Family
by Wraith Ink-Slinger
Summary: What if Reid wasn't an only child?  How would things have been though the series if Reid had siblings?  JJ/Reid tossed in there as well, as long as I'm messing with the canon.
1. Spencer's First Day

Family

Full Summary: Diana Reid once said that if it were up to his father, Spencer would have a houseful of brothers and sisters. Well, what if Diana and William had had more children and Spencer did have siblings? This is a story showing the way things may have been throughout the series if Reid had siblings.

A/N: Allow me to start off by saying: my brain began writing this against my better judgment. However, here we are. I've always liked the idea of Reid having siblings and found the idea of him having had them instead of them being long-lost or half-siblings intriguing. In this fandom, main OCs are received with mixed feelings- some good, some bad. I guess we'll just have to see how this one goes. Whether you like it or not, however, I've got a lot of this typed up already and this will be updated regularly. Also, along with siblings, I've tossed some JJ/Reid in the mix. I figured as long as I was going to mess with the canon, I'd _really_ mess with it. I hope you guys enjoy this. Or, y'know, at least don't hate it.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds and the characters. Spencer's siblings, however, are of my own creation.

-/\-

Chapter 1: Spencer's First Day

September, 2003

Spencer Reid reached over and turned off his alarm, glancing at the time. 6:00 AM. Considering he didn't have to be at work until 8:00, rising at this early hour was probably a little over-zealous, but he couldn't help but be excited. Today was his first day at the FBI. Grinning excitedly to himself, he got out of bed and pulled his tattered old bathrobe over his equally-despairing flannel pajama pants and set about making his bed.

Once he had finished with that, he realigned the items on his nightstand, which he had disturbed in his blind search for his alarm clock not five minutes ago. He straitened the lampshade, pushed his clock back into its place and paused over framed picture. Picking it up, he examined it, though it had long ago been stored away in his eidetic memory. The picture had been taken shortly before his 18th birthday- before he'd committed his mother to Bennington. He wasn't in this one, he had been the photographer. In the photo, Diana Reid laid out on her bed, where she spent much of her time those days, surrounded by books and papers. However, she looked at the camera, on odd sort of smile gracing her lips. To her right, kneeling on the floor by the bed, was the middle Reid child, Alexander. Alex was grinning broadly, his dirty-blonde hair was in disarray, his light brown eyes sparkling mischievously. He had been 13 in the picture. The youngest Reid, Juliet, sat on the bed to Diana's right. Almost seven at the time, Julie's dark brown hair was cut short to frame her face and her wide smile met her large, dark brown eyes, showing off a newly acquired space where a baby tooth had once resided.

Smiling, Spencer set the picture down on his night stand once more, moving it into its rightful place. Then, he looked over at Alex's bed and realized it was empty. Reid frowned, Alex had been there last night… The two brothers had been forced to share a room when they had moved into this small apartment a year ago, allowing Julie, as the only girl in the house, to have her own space. Grabbing his clothing for the day out of his sides of the closet and dresser, Spencer went in search of Alex.

He found the 17-year-old sprawled out on the couch, letting out the occasional soft snore. Spencer shook his head; there would be time to find out why Alex was napping on the sofa later, for now he would let him sleep. His smile worked its way back into place as Spencer entered the bathroom. If there was one thing he liked about being an early riser, it was uninterrupted bathroom time. 20 minutes later, he emerged, clean, shaven, and dressed. He started the coffee and went back into his and Alex's room to deposit his laundry into the hamper. Making a mental note to do the laundry when he got home, Reid went back out into the living room and found that the couch had been vacated.

In the kitchen, Alex was sitting at the small dining table, eating a bowl of cereal. "Morning, Alex." Reid greeted the teen, pulling a coffee cup out of the dishwasher.

"Mornin'." Alex returned between bites of cornflakes.

The youth had changed since the picture had been taken. In five years, he had grown taller and now his height hovered only a few inches below his older brother's. His hair had darkened only slightly and now stuck out every which way, still mussed from sleep. He was thin, but not as much as Spencer. "So… was the couch comfortable?" Spencer asked, leaning against the counter.

Alex shrugged. "6:00 is too early to get up. I figured the only way I'd get any decent sleep is if I slept out there." He replied.

Spencer nodded as he turned to pour himself a cup of coffee. "You could've asked me to set it for later. I would have done that."

"What? And make my brother late for his first day at the Federal Bureau of Investigation? I wouldn't dream of it." Alex said with a grin.

Spencer shook his head, smiling a little, himself. Alex stood to put his bowl in the sink and pulled another mug out of the dishwasher before he poured himself some coffee. "You excited, Mr. FBI-BAU-profiler-guy?" Alex asked, leaning against the counter alongside Spencer.

Spencer's excited smile came back full-force as he nodded. The brothers stood in silence until Julie made an entrance, signaling it was now 7:00. At the age of 10 she, too, had changed since the picture had been taken. Her now long brown hair stuck out at odd angles from sleep, and while she had grown taller, she still didn't come close to her brothers' height. "Morning." Spencer greeted her.

Julie only nodded in return, making her way to the dishwasher and pulling out a third cup. She moved to the coffee maker to pour a cup when Spencer intercepted her. "What're you doing?" he asked.

"Getting some coffee?" Julie replied hopefully.

"What? You're 10, you can't have any coffee!" Spencer replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm almost 11…" Julie told him, as if it made a difference.

"Caffeine can cause jitteriness and nervousness in kids, as well as give you stomach aches, headaches, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure…" Spencer began to rattle off facts.

"Okay, okay!" Julie tossed up her hands in surrender. "No coffee for me."

Spencer nodded and then glanced at the clock. "I have to get ready to go!" He said suddenly, putting his cup in the sink and all but running out of the kitchen.

Alex and Julie watching him go, smiling to themselves. They waited for a few moments before Alex passed his coffee to Julie, who eagerly drank the last of it.

Spencer ran over the morning schedule as he pulled on his shoes. He would take the subway to work and Alex would use the Volvo to get himself and Julie to school. Alex would pick Julie up after school and he, Spencer, would be home in time to cook dinner as long as there was no case. Grabbing his new messenger bag, Spencer came out into the living room to find Julie and Alex waiting by the door. "You guys make sure you get to school on time." He told them as he headed for the door.

"Yeah, yeah, we will. Now, go save the world, Spencer." Alex told him, nodding reassuringly.

Spencer smiled and opened the door. "Bye, guys."

"Play nice with the other kids!" Julie told him as he headed out.

"And if that doesn't work, just keep talking till they get bored and leave you alone!" Alex called after him.

Spencer resisted the strong urge to stick his tongue out at the two of them as he shut the door.

-/\-

"It was great!" Spencer beamed over the dinner table. "Gideon was there of course, then there was Aaron Hotchner. People just call him Hotch though. He's a little… intimidating. And he doesn't smile."

"At all?" Julie asked.

"I didn't see him do it once. He has a wife, though; he's probably a different person at home. There was also this guy, Derek Morgan. He seems a little like a jock, but he was pretty nice. He's also a huge flirt. I'm pretty sure he hit on every female agent he crossed paths with."

"Does your team _have_ any women on it?" Alex asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"No, but I understand there's still room for another agent on the team." Spencer replied, shaking his head.

Conversation moved on to other topics before they settled into silence. "You know," Spencer finally said, "I'll be making more money now… maybe we should get a bigger apartment."

"But this place is finally starting to feel homey." Alex protested.

"Alex, it's been a year and we still haven't unpacked everything." Spencer reminded him.

"Well, that _does_ make moving easier…" The teen conceded.

Julie giggled a little before she added her vote of confidence. "Then you guys could have your own rooms…"

"This is true…" Alex tapped his chin with the end of this fork, as if thinking hard. "I approve!"

Spencer smiled. A new apartment… a new job… new possible friends… Yes, things finally seemed to be falling into place for his small family.

-/\-

A/N: Well, that was chapter the first… I hope you guys enjoyed. Or at least didn't hate it. There're many more chapters to come, so you won't be rid of me easily! Review if you would like, it would make my day.


	2. Spencer's First Case

Family

A/N: Hello, again! Like I said, you guys can't get rid of me easily! Welcome to chapter 2 and I hope you enjoy! _Italics_ indicate someone is talking over the phone, by the way.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, North Stafford High School (it's a real place), Park Ridge Elementary (also real), or New Jersey. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own creation.

-/\-

Chapter 2: Spencer's First Case

1Week after Spencer's first day

"North Stafford High School, this is Rhonda speaking, how may I help you?"

"_Yes, hello, I was wondering if it would be possible to get a message to a student?"_

"Well, sure thing. Who's the student and what's the name?"

"_The message needs to go to Alexander Reid. My name is Spencer Reid, I'm his older brother. He needs to know that I've been called away to a case in New Jersey and that I'll call tonight."_

"Mm-hmm. Okay, I'll make sure Alexander gets the message, Mr. Reid."

"_Thank you_."

"Uh huh. Bye now." Rhonda hung up the phone and looked down at the note she had just written, curiosity welling up inside her.

She was privy to a lot of messages and things of that nature that parents left for their kids and she usually considered herself fairly objective. This particular message, however, piqued her curiosity. She wondered if she was going to see many more like it. Shaking her head, she called one of the office aids to deliver the message.

-/\-

Reid snapped his phone shut after leaving a message at Park Ridge Elementary School similar to the one he had left at North Stafford and began collecting his things. He had to be down at the airstrip in 20 minutes and they were leaving in one of the SUVs in about five minutes.

A wide range of emotions coursed through him as he stuffed notebooks into the messenger bag he had bought shortly before he started the job. A brief case would have been more uniform, but the strap on the bag left his hands free, which had made it a better choice for him.

He wasn't altogether pleased with having to fly to New Jersey. He had not been on many flights in his 21, almost 22, years but he had not enjoyed any of them. Granted, a private jet would be very different from a commercial flight, but how different remained to be seen. Of course he had known the job had involved a lot of traveling when he took it, but…

Reid shook his head. He was only trying to distract himself from the apprehension he was feeling about his first case. He ran his fingers through his hair, wishing he hadn't cut it. Though it was still longer than the average style, falling just below his ears, it was too short for his liking. It had been a nervous habit of his since he was young to run his fingers through his long hair. _Oh well_, he thought, _I guess that's a habit I'll just have to break._ Having short hair was better than his usual unruly curls, he supposed.

Without noticing what he had been doing, he had headed down to the parking garage and piled into the SUV with the rest of the team. Hotch drove while Gideon sat shotgun, going over the files again. Reid and Morgan shared the backseat. All too soon, they had reached the airport and boarded the plane.

Finally, Reid began to think about the case. His first case. He was excited, but felt bad for doing so, considering the fact that they had a case meant that innocent people were dying. Instead of thinking too hard about it, he threw himself into the idea session. There would be time to confront his combating feelings later.

-/\-

Reid fought hard not to gasp as he entered the room. The coppery scent of blood hung thick and heavy in the air. The actual blood was everywhere, the walls, the floor, the bed. On the bed- oh, God, was that supposed to be a person? Though no gasp escaped his lips, Reid couldn't stop himself from staring at the form on the bed that had once been a 15-year-old girl. Finally, a gentle hand on his shoulder brought his attention to Morgan, who was watching him with slight concern. "You okay? Wanna go wait outside?" The older agent asked carefully.

Reid shook his head vehemently. "No, I'm fine." He looked back to the bed and then back at Morgan before adding quickly, "I know I don't look like much, but I can handle myself."

Morgan nodded. "It's okay if you need a minute, it's your first scene and this is pretty bad, even by our standards."

Reid didn't respond; he was staring at the wall just beyond Morgan, his brows furrowed in concentration. Finally, he spoke. "That's not right."

Morgan turned and took in the blood spatter on the wall which Reid had been staring at. "Yeah, Reid, that's kind of why we're here." He replied dryly.

Shaking his head, Reid walked over to the wall. "No, I mean, this pattern isn't right. It's too far away from the victim to be arterial spatter and it's too thickly spread… it's like this blood was _painted_ on the wall like this."

Gideon had come over in the midst of Reid's explanation and was now looking from the spatter to the body and back again. "You're right." He said finally. "Good catch."

Reid would have felt proud had the setting been different.

-/\-

"_Spencer!"_

Reid smiled a little held the phone to his ear. "Hi, Julie."

"_How's New Jersey?"_ Alex asked.

"Well, the police station's very nice." Reid replied.

"_Been busy, huh?"_ Alex's voice came.

"Yeah," Reid's mind went back to the crime scene for a minute before he snapped himself out of it. "So, what did you guys eat for dinner?"

"_We ordered pizza."_ Julie answered.

Reid frowned. "We went grocery shopping yesterday. Why didn't you guys make something?"

"_Are you kidding? Alex is an awful cook!"_ Julie replied over Alex's indignant protest.

Reid was about to reply when a knock came on his hotel room door. "Hang on, guys." He told them as he went to open the door.

Hotch stood on the other side. "Reid, we've got a lead, we have to go."

Reid nodded. "Okay, I'll be there in one minute."

"_What?"_ Alex's voice came over the phone.

"No, not you guys." Reid said into the phone.

Hotch turned and began to walk away as Reid wrapped up the phone conversation. "_Hey, was that Morgan or Hotch?"_ Julie asked.

"Hotch." Reid replied.

"What?" Hotch, who was still in hearing range, turned back and asked.

"Oh, no, sorry, I was answering a question my sister asked, and…"

Hotch could distinctly hear laughter on the other side of the phone and almost smiled, nodding his head. Reid put the phone back to his ear. "Listen, guys, I have to go, but I'll call when I can. We're still talking about dinner later."

"_When are you coming home?"_ Julie asked quickly.

Reid sighed. "Whenever we catch this unsub."

The line was silent for a moment before Alex responded. _"We'll see you then."_

"Yeah. Bye, guys." Reid closed his cell and stuffed it in his pocket, turning his attention to Hotch.

Hotch gave him a quick sympathetic look before becoming businesslike once more. "We got a tip on the hotline 10 minutes ago…"

-/\-

Spencer entered his small apartment and shut the door quietly. It was late and he hadn't wanted to wake Alex or Julie. He slumped against the door, finally allowing the toll the case had taken on him to manifest itself. He hadn't been in for more than two minutes, however, before Alex came out of their shared room and saw him. "Julie, he's back!" He called, before he fully took in Spencer's appearance.

He looked careworn and a little upset as he leaned against the door. Alex frowned, regarding his older brother carefully before Julie came out and frowned as well. "Is he okay?" She muttered to Alex.

Alex shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"You know, you can talk to me. I'm right here." Spencer told them.

Finally, Julie walked up to him and gave him a hug, which he returned. Alex, not as affectionate as his sister, threw an arm around Spencer's shoulders as best he could from his height. There were very few people Spencer could tolerate having his personal space invaded by, and his siblings were two of them. They stayed that way for a moment before the three pulled apart. "So… bring us anything?" Julie asked with a grin.

Alex elbowed her in the shoulder and she nudged him back. "I'm only kidding." She said.

"Actually…" Spencer dug his hand into his messenger bag. "I saw these at the airport and I thought I should come back with something, so…"

Spencer presented them both with a postcard. They both gave information on New Jersey; the state bird, flower, and so on.

Regarding their 'gifts' his siblings finally smiled. "Can't beat the classics, I guess." Alex said.

Spencer mock-scowled at them, walking towards his bedroom. "Well, _I _thought they were interesting." He muttered.

-/\-

A/N: Well, that was chapter 2. Review if you want, it will certainly make me very happy!

Thank you, by the way, to criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, Lunalike, brenners, FishieGurl, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, and KASEY64 for your wonderful and encouraging reviews, and thank you to everyone who has put this on alert and favorites!


	3. Boston

Family

A/N: Hello again! We've skipped a fair amount of time since the last chapter, but I'll always put the relative time at the top or the episode the chapter is related to. Hope you guys are enjoying!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 3: Boston

Early March, 2005

Alex and Julie sat on the couch late that night, waiting. Spencer had called a little while ago, saying he would be home soon. He sounded as though he hadn't slept in days, which, considering, may have been the truth. Over the past year and a half, the two had gotten very good at telling from Spencer's voice when a case had hit him hard, and this one sounded bad.

A lot had changed since Spencer had started at the BAU. They had moved into a new apartment a few months after he had begun, though there had been several holdups due to Spencer's job. Gideon had helped them move the last of their things; he seemed to be fond of spending time with the small family, as they were with him. Now each sibling had their own room and Spencer had a small office area. Alex would be graduating in a little over 2 months and Julie would be going to middle school in the fall.

To Alex and Julie's relief, Spencer had not changed very much at all, but he was somewhat withdrawn after the more difficult cases. They both knew this had been one of those cases, though he hadn't discussed it over the phone, and it was all they could do not to jump up when they heard the front door unlock. They knew it was best not to rush him on a night like tonight.

Spencer came into the living room where Julie was already standing and Alex was sitting just behind her on the couch. A wash of different emotions came through in his expressive eyes: horror, sadness, shock, even a little anger. However, at the sight of the two of them staring worriedly back at him, relief pushed all the other emotions away. In a few quick strides of his long legs, he was standing before them and he looked about ready to pull them both into a hug. However, he seemed to decide against such personal contact at the last minute and simply stood there for a moment, looking rather embarrassed, and then collapsed on the couch. There was silence for a few minutes before Alex finally asked the question he and Julie desperately wanted an answer to. "What happened?"

Spencer looked over them both, his eyes lingering on Julie. "Julie, I think you should go to bed." He said finally.

"What? Why?" She asked quietly.

"Because you shouldn't have to hear what I have to say."

"I want to know what's wrong." Julie sat down resolutely.

"Julie, I said you should go to bed." Spencer told her more firmly.

"I already know you were working on the "Boston Bomber" case. I'll hear the other stuff on the news too. I'd rather hear it from you."

Spencer's resolve broke; he knew she was right and he was too tired to put up much of a fight. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and began to speak. "His name is Adrian Bale."

"The Boston Bomber." Alex said.

Spencer shook his head. "No. Adrian Bale. It's important to give them names. It humanizes them." He was met with silence so he continued to speak. "We thought we had him. He was cornered… but he had a hostage and a bomb. Gideon… he finally managed to talk Bale down."

Neither Alex nor Julie spoke; they knew there was a 'but' coming. "We had Bale out of the building but… he detonated the bomb anyway."

Julie's hand came up to cover her mouth, but her stare was as unwavering as Alex's. "Six agents. And a civilian." Spencer shook his head. "Six good agents. Seven people whose families won't ever see them again."

Finally, Spencer seemed to run out of the little energy he had left and leaned back and against the couch closing his eyes. "Gideon didn't- uh… he didn't take it well." Spencer gave a hollow laugh. "He's been given 6 months leave to recover."

There was silence for a short while before Julie broke it. "I'm sorry…" she said quietly.

"Nothing to be sorry for. You didn't…" Spencer trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

The shadows that were always present around his eyes seemed as dark as black eyes, he seemed to have aged 10 years as he sagged against the couch. "When was the last time you got some sleep?" Alex asked.

"What time is it?" Spencer mumbled.

"Um… 10:47." Alex replied, glancing at the clock.

"40 hours, 6 minutes ago." Even half-asleep, Spencer's brain continued its work, though his voice was fading.

"You should get some sleep then." Alex noted unnecessarily.

This advice fell on deaf ears, however; Spencer was already asleep.

Alex smirked and looked over at Julie, who shrugged at him. He shrugged back and settled into the easy chair next to the couch while Julie took the part of the couch that was not occupied by Spencer, where they both remained as Spencer slept on.

-/\-

A/N: That was shorter than the others… Oh, well. Next chapter will be up with the official beginning of the series. Hoorah. Hope you guys are enjoying so far. Review, if you'd like… I enjoyed reading all of your review so much since putting up the last chapter, they were like little birthday presents, as I turned 17 yesterday!

Speaking of which, thank you so much to donttouch, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, clt, Lunalike, morgo7kc, KASEY64, Shadow Mistress-of death, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, AgnesSophia, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, FishieGurl, Eriks angel 15, and Tahreh the Blind Ninja for your wonderful and encouraging reviews and to everyone who is putting up with this story!


	4. Gideon and the Reids

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! Welcome to chapter 4… seems like I've come so far, and there's still, like, 36 chapters to go! Yeesh. Enjoy! _Italics_ indicate thoughts this time.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds and the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 4: Gideon and the Reids

Episode: Extreme Aggressor

Gideon settled back into the chair behind his desk. _It's good to be back._ He glanced over his table full of photos. He had missed looking at them while he was gone. Suddenly, his quiet reverie was broke by someone standing in the doorway, clearing their throat. Looking up, Gideon saw Reid there. "Reid." Gideon greeted.

Reid nodded, giving a small wave in greeting. "I just wanted to say… it's good to have you back. We- uh, the team missed you. At least, I'm fairly sure they did, but…" Reid cut himself off before he began to ramble.

Gideon smiled. "It's good to be back." He noticed Reid's eyes linger over the chess board by his desk. "Would you like to play before calling it a night?"

During Gideon's six months of leave, Reid had visited a few times, steadfastly refusing to give Gideon any information on a case unless it was closed for good. They had played chess a few times as well, but it hadn't been the same. However, Reid shook his head. "I should really get home." He replied before hesitantly continuing. "Would you- uh, like to come for dinner? I know Alex and Julie would be glad to see you."

Gideon paused. If anyone else had invited him, he'd be suspicious of their motives. They probably would only invite him to make sure he really was ready to come back. He knew that Reid's offer was sincere, however. "I'd love the chance to cook for people." He replied with a smile.

Reid balked. "No, I didn't mean you had to cook! I mean, I like to cook, and I'm pretty good at it…"

"Reid, it's fine. I want to cook. I haven't had people to feed in months."

Reid smiled and nodded. "Alex and Julie won't complain, your cooking is infinitely better than mine."

Gideon smiled and shook his head as he stood up to gather his things. "So, you like to cook?" He asked as they headed down to the bullpen.

-/\-

Spencer pulled his key out of his messenger bag and pushed it into the lock. However, as he turned it, it stopped short and he frowned. "What's wrong?" Gideon asked.

"They're supposed to lock the door." Spencer replied, pulling the key back out and opening the door.

"Guys?" I'm back." Spencer called into the apartment.

After a few moments, the door farthest down the hall on the right opened and Julie came out. He face lit up to see the two men at the end of the hall. "Hi, Gideon. Spencer told us you were back."

"Julie," Gideon greeted her with a smile. "You've grown since I saw you."

The girl smiled, twirling a strand of her long brown hair around her fingers. "Kids tend to do that." She joked.

"Hey, don't I get a 'hello'?" Spencer asked with a small smile.

Laughing, Julie gave Spencer a quick hug before giving him her report with a well-rehearsed tone that made Gideon chuckle. "My light was out at 10:30 every night, I did my homework and Alex and I ate the food you left in the fridge. Alex has been completely obsessed with classes, but we did clean the apartment yesterday."

Spencer smiled as he hung his and Gideon's jackets in the closet. "I can tell, you guys did a really good job. But," He suddenly became more serious, "You forgot something."

Julie's brows furrowed in concentration, her face acquiring the pensive frown Gideon was used to seeing on Spencer's face. "What?" She finally asked.

"You didn't lock the door." Spencer told her.

A look of enlightenment came across the 12-year-old's face before she reached forward and locked the door. "Sure, I did!" She said brightly.

Spencer shook his head. "Julie, you and Alex _have_ to lock the door. If you don't…"

"I know, I know. A serial killer will get us."

"I never said that." Spencer frowned in confusion.

"I'm sorry we forgot…"

There was silence for a minute as Gideon inspected some photos on the wall. Finally, in an attempt to break the awkward silence, Julie spoke. "I saw you on the news." She said brightly.

Spencer looked up, surprised. "I was on the news?" He asked.

"For about five seconds." Alex said as he came out of his room.

"But it was still neat." Julie assured Spencer.

Gideon remembered when Spencer had told him that Julie had taken to monitoring the news for information on the BAU. Then he turned to Alex. "Congratulations on your graduation, Alex."

"Thanks." Alex smiled. "Now I just need to do it about a hundred more times and I'll have caught up with him." The young man gestured toward his brother.

Spencer smiled and went into the kitchen, leaving Gideon at the mercy of Alex and his excited ramblings about his college classes. And people thought _he_ talked too much. Looking around, Spencer found himself wondering what Gideon thought of the apartment. His boss had only been to the new apartment once and it had certainly changed since then.

Gideon was the only one of his coworkers that had been to his apartment and met his siblings. The rest of the team would probably meet them eventually, he knew; they were going to be working together for a while. He had just met Hotch's wife recently. She had been very kind to him though he felt as though he had made a fool of himself quoting facts about pregnancy. Of course, Morgan still didn't know about his family after 2 years and the new woman, Elle, definitely wasn't going to know.

"The place looks good." A voice startled Spencer into almost dropping a pan on the floor.

Turning, he saw Gideon standing in the kitchen behind him. "I see you've actually unpacked this time."

"Yeah, it does feel a little more like home without all the boxes around." Spencer told him with a half-smile.

They stood in amiable silence for a moment before Gideon clapped his hands together in a businesslike manner. "Okay, what've we got here?" He asked, pulling open the fridge.

"Uh- I was just going to make some chicken." Spencer said, joining him in front of the fridge.

Gideon nodded. "Good. We can work with that."

-/\-

Half an hour later, the kitchen was alive with the sounds and smells of cooking. Gideon stood at the stove, frying the lightly-seasoned chicken while Spencer flitted about the kitchen doing whatever Gideon instructed him to, relishing in the opportunity to learn to cook on intuition rather than from memory. "Rei- Spencer." Gideon beckoned the young man over, calling him by his given name. _People need that separation of home and work, especially around family,_ he reminded himself.

Spencer appeared beside him, slotted spoon in hand. "How's the rice coming?" Gideon asked him, flipping the cuts of chicken over in the pan.

The younger man bent over another pan and scrutinized with rice, pushing it around with the spoon. "It looks…"

"Looks can be deceiving." Gideon told him. "You have to taste it."

Nodding, Spencer retrieved a fork from the silverware drawer, scooped up a forkful of rice and put it in his mouth. His eyes widened as he swallowed quickly and began to suck in cool air. "It's hot." He wheezed between breaths.

Julie giggled from her spot at the table where she had been tasked to cut vegetables. "You didn't put it in your mouth right out of the pan, did you?"

Spencer shot her a withering glare before he turned back to Gideon. "It's good..." He began.

"But?" Gideon prompted him.

"It needs more…" The young profiler paused and Gideon could see him going over various flavors in his head. "Onion?"

Gideon smiled a little. "I haven't tasted it. You tell me."

After a moment's pause, Spencer turned to Julie and handed her an onion from the produce dish on the counter. "I think we need a… quarter cup of that." He told her.

The three settled into their routines again, Gideon occasionally asking Reid's opinion and prodding him to make his own decisions. "Hey, are you guys almost done?" Alex, who had been, more or less, banished to the living room after his lack of cooking skill became apparent, asked from the doorway.

"Relax, you can't rush a good meal." Gideon told him without looking up from the pan.

Alex continued to stand in the doorway, now looking at Spencer. "Yes, I think we're almost done." Spencer finally answered.

"Just about." Gideon agreed with a small smile.

-/\-

"Thank you for dinner, this evening was great." Gideon said as he stood at the door of the Reid's apartment.

"Don't thank me, you cooked it. I should be thanking you. So… thank you." Spencer said quietly.

"Let's call it a joint effort." Gideon told him, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll, uh, see you tomorrow." Spencer replied as Gideon turned to leave.

Shutting the door, Spencer went into the kitchen to start the dishes. Though he was tired, he liked something to occupy his hands while he thought. The evening had been good; they had cooked a wonderful dinner, had a lively conversation, and played a game of chess which he had _almost_ won. Though tomorrow they would go back to being colleagues, and he would be Reid again, rather than Spencer, he didn't mind. He couldn't have asked for a better night in.

-/\-

A/N: Hm… I've never written anything with Gideon in it before. I hope I did him justice. I'm not sure I'm completely pleased with this chapter, but it's not bad, considering. Also, I know I kind of neglected the fact that Gideon was shot in the first episode, but I assumed, since he was only getting checked out at the end of the episode and not rushed to the hospital, it was probably just a graze. Hope you enjoyed. Review, if you'd like.

Also, thank you very much to donttouch, FishieGurl, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, morgo7kc, clt, SlasherrGirl, KASEY64, fallfromreality, Lunalike, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, and rinswan for your reviews and thank you to everyone who put this on their alerts and favorites!


	5. Happy Happy Birthday

Family

A/N: Hello, again! It is time for Spencer's birthday, woot! Hope you guys are enjoying so far!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 5: Happy Happy Birthday

Episode: Plain Sight

"_Spencer_." A whisper and a prodding finger broke through Spencer's sleepy haze.

The young FBI agent mumbled something to the effect of "It's my day off, let me sleep," and waved off the morning intruder. Julie sighed and sat heavily on her brother's bed, bouncing up and down for effect. "Spencer." Still he did not stir.

Julie shook his shoulder gently. "Spencer, wake up." When he did not acknowledge her, she leaned closer and said, "There's an UnSub in the living room."

Spencer's eyes finally snapped open and he stared up at his little sister, confused. "What?"

"It's time to get up." She told him, laughing.

"Why? It's my day off."

"Yeah, but I made breakfast and I'm not going to serve it to you in bed." When he did not make a move to get up, she added, "I made paaancakes."

Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Alright, I'll be out in a minute. Now please let me get dressed."

Julie seemed to notice for the first time that Spencer was not wearing a shirt. "Oh, ick! You're not…"

"Of course not! I-I'm wearing pants… Would you please just get out?" Spencer tossed a pillow at her as she continued to make melodramatic disgusted faces.

Laughing, Julie tossed the pillow back at him and ran out the door, shutting it behind her. Spencer shook his head and threw the covers back, revealing that he was indeed wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants. Sleeping in only pants was something that had been comfortable in the ever-hot Las Vegas, Nevada, and now sleeping in a shirt was just plain uncomfortable, even in colder climates. Shaking his head again, he pulled an old t-shirt over his head and tied his threadbare bathrobe over the ensemble. _As if I would ever sleep __naked_, he thought incredulously.

As he left his room, he could smell breakfast and his stomach growled. Glad he had decided to get up, he went into the kitchen to find Alex and Julie waiting for him. "Happy Birthday!" They shouted, tossing handfuls of confetti at him.

Spencer laughed, shielding himself from the tiny, sparkling projectiles and taking in the room. There was a banner proclaiming "Happy Birthday" hung over the table, accompanied by blue and white streamers and various colored balloons. A quick glance at the living room showed that it had received the same treatment. "Did you guys do all of this this morning?" He asked.

"No actually, it was all up last night, but you were dead to the world when you got home. You didn't see a thing." Alex told him.

"Oh, I'm sorry… it was a rough one the past two days and… Wow, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, just sit down and enjoy your belated birthday breakfast." Julie told him, pointing at the table.

Spencer's birthday had been yesterday, a Saturday. The party the team had thrown him had been on Friday. It seemed his siblings had been hoping to surprise him when he had come home yesterday, but he had been too tired to notice. However, before he had a chance to apologize again, Julie placed a plate in front of him. He cocked his head, staring at it. "Julie, I think my pancakes are smiling at me." He said.

Julie laughed. "They're supposed to do that."

Spencer's 'belated birthday breakfast' consisted of bacon and a stack of chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream eyes and a smile. There was a candle where the nose would have been. "Hey, I didn't get a smiley face." Alex whined, looking down at his own pancakes.

"The whipped cream's in the fridge, go ahead and make one." Julie told him before turning to Spencer. "Blow out the candle before it melts all over your pancakes."

Spencer did as he was told. "Did you make a wish?" Alex asked as he returned to the table.

"Was I supposed to?" Spencer asked. "I thought that was just birthday _cake_."

His siblings only shook their heads and began to eat. Resolving to look it up later, he, too, dug into his breakfast.

-/\-

"Open this one first." Alex told him, passing him a blue bag patterned in balloons.

Spencer pulled the tissue paper out, reached into the bag and pulled out a sock. "_A_ sock?" He asked, confused.

"Keep going." Alex urged.

Spencer kept pulling socks out of the bag until he had a total of 10 socks- none of which had a match. "Thanks." He said with a laugh. "But what did you do with the other socks?"

"Trade secret." Alex told him with a mysterious smile.

Spencer shook his head and decided that, like with many of the things Garcia talked about, he probably didn't want to know. The next thing he pulled out of the bag was a video game. "It's supposed to be the most challenging puzzle game on the market." Alex explained. "I give you two hours to crack it."

Reading over the back at lightning speed, Spencer smiled confidently. "One." He replied.

"I'll take that bet." Alex said with a smirk as the two brothers shook hands.

Julie only roller her eyes; this was an annual occurrence and the two were currently tied for wins. The next thing out of the bag was a pair of black boxers, with "FBI" printed all over them in bright green lettering. "Where did you _get_ those?" Spencer asked, blushing a little as he stuffed the underwear back in the bag.

Alex only grinned at him and Spencer shook his head. "Never mind.

The last thing in the bag was a sketch. It was a drawing of him, Julie, Alex, and their mother, signed from Alex. "Thank you." Spencer smiled, looking down at the sketch.

Both Spencer and Alex liked to draw. However, while Spencer's sketches were somewhat scribbly and dark, though good, Alex's style easily captured reality.

Julie slid her gifts over next. Hers was a stack of thin packages wrapped in black paper with the words "Happy Birthday" written all over in silver script. They were all tied together with a silver ribbon. After struggling for a moment with the ribbon, Spencer unwrapped a set of pens, mechanical pencils, a leather-bound journal, and a small sketchbook.

Finally, Spencer sat back, looking at the small stock of gifts, minus the underwear. "Thank you, guys. These are really great." He beamed.

"Oh, there's also this. It came in the mail yesterday." Alex picked an envelope up off the table and handed it to Spencer.

Spencer recognized it immediately. It was one of the birthday cards Bennington helped Diana send to each of her children on their birthdays. On the front there was a cake and bunch of brightly colored balloons. The inside held a simple "Happy Birthday." There was also a message from Diana.

_Happy Birthday, Spencer. ~Love Mom_

Simple though it was, it meant the world to Spencer. The siblings sat in silence for a while before Julie spoke. "So what did you get from the team?" She asked.

"They all got me some great things, despite the fact I keep insisting they shouldn't." Spencer said with a smile.

He got up to collect the small gifts from his room. There were mostly gift cards and books, save for the small box which contained Gideon's gift. "Hey, what's this?" Julie asked, picking up the box.

"Uh- those…" Spencer began, blushing.

"These are tickets for a Redskins game." Alex opened the box and his eyebrows went up. "_Good_ tickets. Who are these from?"

"Gideon, but…"

"Gideon's never given you a present before." Julie said. "Does he know you don't know anything about sports?"

"Is he going with you?" Alex asked.

"Well, no, because…"

"Then who's supposed to go? There are only two tickets so it shouldn't be one of us…" Julie interrupted.

"They're for me and JJ!" Spencer finally blurted out.

"Who?" The two asked in tandem.

"Uh- Agent Jareau. The media liaison? I'm pretty sure I've…"

"Oh, yeah!" Julie said, snapping her fingers. "I saw one of her press conferences."

"Oh, wait, the blonde one?" Alex asked, turning to Julie.

"Yeah." The girl nodded.

"Ooh, she's pretty. And you're going with her?" Alex turned his attention on his older brother.

Spencer nodded embarrassedly. "You have a date?" Julie asked excitedly.

"It's not really a date, we're going to see a football game and can we please stop talking about it?" Spencer asked, exasperated.

"Alright, since it's your birthday… sort of. But you realize we'll go back to bugging you tomorrow, right?" Alex replied

Spencer sighed. "As long as you don't make me wear a hat."

-/\-

A/N: Hm… I'm not sure it turned out the way I had hoped. But, does it ever, really? Next chapter shall be the date! Review, if you feel inclined to do so… please and thank you?

Thank you, also, to criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, RockerChild1987, Eriks angel 15, clt, KASEY64, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, SlasherrGirl, and CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ for your wonderful and encouraging reviews! Thank you to those who have put this on alert and favorites as well!


	6. Dating Disaster

Family

A/N: Hello, again! I have returned to tell you about JJ and Reid's date. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to, Criminal Minds, the characters, or The Redskins. I have no idea what game JJ and Reid would have attended, so I don't know who would've won… I just made it up. Oh, and Rodney Thompson Middle school is real and does not belong to me. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 6: Dating Disaster

Episode: Plain Sight

Reid drove on quietly, occasionally glancing over at JJ. "I-I'm no authority on football games, but I think that was pretty, uh… good?" He half asked the blonde.

JJ smiled. "Yeah, Spence, that was a lot of fun."

The game had been fun. Spencer had insisted on purchasing JJ's lunch and he had managed to avoid spilling anything. JJ, in turn, had patiently explained the game to him. He conveniently didn't mention that he'd read up on football and knew exactly what was going on. By the end of the game JJ had even had him cheering. To cap off the experience, the Redskins had won the game.

They drove on in companionable silence until JJ groaned. "What, what's wrong?" Reid asked quickly, struggling to keep his eyes on the road.

"Oh, it's- I really hate to bring work into this, but… those files I asked you for on Friday?"

"Yes?"

"You never gave them to me… Do you think…?"

"We can stop by my place and I'll get them for you."

"Thanks, Spence. I'm sorry, but I really need them."

"No, i-it's fine, I'm sorry I forgot."

-/\-

Julie glanced up at the clock. "Y'know, he should be back soon." She said to Alex, who sat next to her on the couch.

"Don't you have anything better to do than keep tabs on Spencer?" He replied without looking up from the book he was reading.

"Not really. I'm bored." Julie shrugged.

Alex didn't reply and the two sat quietly for a while. Just as Julie was contemplating turning the TV on, something out the window caught her eye. A familiar car drove down the road and pulled into the parking lot outside the building. "Hey, he's back… and he brought JJ with him." She said with interest.

"Really?" Alex looked up from his book, his curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, they're coming up."

The siblings watched as Spencer and JJ got out of the old Volvo and walked up to the apartment building. They exchanged looks before they scrambled off the couch and into the hallway to wait for the two agents.

-/\-

Reid paused outside his second floor apartment and turned around to face JJ. "I-I'm sorry, but would you mind just- ah… waiting out here? I'll run in and get the files; it'll take me one minute."

"Oh. Sure, no problem." JJ said, attempting keep all traces of disappointment out of her voice. She had somewhat been looking forward to a glimpse of Reid's apartment.

"I'm sorry, JJ, but I- uh, wasn't expecting anyone so it's a-a mess, and…"

JJ opened her mouth to tell him that it was okay, but the opening of the apartment door stopped her. "Don't leave her in the hallway, invite her in for a coffee." A young man a few inches shorter than Spencer with shaggy, dirty-blonde hair and brown eyes standing in the doorway said.

Spencer watched in horror as a girl with long, wavy brown hair and dark brown eyes who couldn't have been more than 12 stepped out into the hallway after the young man. "Yeah, you should come in for coffee."

JJ searched for something to say as the two who had just come out of the apartment looked expectantly at Spencer, who was turning red with embarrassment. Finally, he snapped into action and cleared his throat. "Ah, JJ, this is uh, Alexander and Juliet Reid. They're my um, brother and sister. Guys, this is Jennifer Jareau."

"JJ is fine though." JJ said out of habit, shaking hands with both of them before turning to Spencer. "Spence, I didn't know you had siblings."

"I-it's never really come up, uh… would you like to come in for coffee, I guess?"

-/\-

15 minutes later, JJ and Reid sat on the couch with cups of coffee while Alex sat in the recliner and Julie sat on the floor by the coffee table. "How was the game?" Julie asked.

"It was good." Spencer nodded, clutching his coffee cup tightly.

"Oh, yeah, it was a lot of fun." JJ took a sip of her coffee. "So, where do you guys go to school?"

"I graduated in May. I'm taking college courses." Alex said.

"7th grade at Rodney Thompson Middle School." Julie told her.

JJ nodded and continued asking questions. It was part of her job to diffuse awkward situations and she was good at it. Soon the atmosphere in the living room had relaxed as conversation moved from school to work to friends and so on. "I'm glad Spencer finally got his own date, though, instead of stealing mine." Alex said after a while, a teasing smile on his lips.

"For the last time, I did not steal Taylor Campbell from you." Spencer said, his tone suggesting they'd been over this before. "And she wasn't your girlfriend, you were 11."

"Well, she would've been my girlfriend if you hadn't stolen her out from under me." Alex mumbled, still smiling.

"I'm sorry, what?" JJ asked with a small laugh, unable to imagine Spencer stealing anybody's girlfriend.

Alex cleared his throat in a theatrical manner and began his explanation as Spencer began to blush. "Taylor Campbell was the most beautiful girl in the 5th grade and we were partners for a history project. I couldn't believe my amazing luck." JJ could see the young man was embellishing it for all he was worth. "So she agrees to come over after school. We're working on our project and talking and everything's going great… and then Spencer gets home."

JJ's eyebrows went up at Alex's dramatic change in tone as she looked from him to Spencer, who was blushing like mad and squirming in his seat, and back again. "Okay…" She said, prompting him to continue.

"So, he comes in to the living room and he starts his mothering routine."

JJ cut him off with a surprised laugh. "His what?"

"Spencer is kind of like Mom, Dad, and a big brother all rolled into one." Julie told her.

"Uh huh." JJ glanced over at Spencer, who looked as though he wished to disappear.

"And he starts asking questions like 'who's this' and 'what are you working on' and 'do you want any help.' And Taylor, who's just been staring at him the entire time, jumps up and practically begs him to stay and help. So he does."

"Well, did you get a good grade on your project?" JJ asked carefully, trying to contain her laughter.

"Oh, yeah, we aced the project. But for the next two weeks, Taylor kept asking to come over and going on about how _smart_ my big brother was and how_ cute_ Spencer was. I finally told her he had a girlfriend just to get her off my back."

"I said I was sorry…" Spencer muttered quietly, only to be ignored.

"And that's why I never bring my dates home." Alex said with a laugh.

JJ and Julie giggled a little as well and JJ was sure she saw Spencer smiling behind his coffee cup. Finally, after the laughter died down, JJ allowed her curiosity to get the best of her. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you two live here with Spence?"

The room was still and JJ could feel the tension from earlier return 10-fold. She was about to tell them to simply forget she had asked when Alex spoke in a short, no-nonsense tone. "Dad left before Julie was born and Mom's back in Las Vegas in a mental hospital." He said bluntly.

"Alex!" Spencer said sharply, his voice rising in volume and pitch.

Alex shrugged. "She was going to find out eventually."

"That's not…" Spencer began.

"Reid, it's fine, I…" JJ tried to speak calmly.

"No, JJ, I'm sorry. I should've- Let me get those files." Spencer cut her off, moving over to the corner of the living room that had been designated his office.

He scooped up the folders and turned back to JJ. "I'll take you home." He said.

JJ didn't say anything, but picked up her purse and headed out with Spencer. Once they were out the door, she spoke again. "Spencer, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to pry, I just…"

"It's fine, I'm the one who should be sorry." He told her, heading down the stairs. "C-come on, we should get going."

Silently, JJ followed him down to his car.

-/\-

Soon, they stood at the front of JJ's apartment building and JJ was trying to apologize again. "I'm really sorry for ruining this, we were having such a good time, and I just couldn't mind my own business…"

"JJ, it's fine, really. I-I didn't mean for you to find out like that, and I'm really sorry about all this. I just… I'd really appreciate it if you would… keep this to yourself, though." Reid looked over at her hopefully.

"Of course, Reid." JJ assured him, hugging the folders to her chest, feeling somehow childish as she did so.

Reid continued standing there for a moment before he spoke again. "I-I'm not sure we should do this again…" He said, refusing to meet her eyes.

"I- okay, if that's what you want." JJ finally nodded, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice. "I'll, um, see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah. Bye, JJ." Spencer turned and walked back to his car, desperately trying to hold back his own sadness and missing the few tears that welled up in JJ's eyes despite her efforts to keep them at bay.

-/\-

A/N: No, really, this is going to end up as a JJ/Reid story! Just bare with me for a bit. I know maybe it kind of seems like Reid over-reacted a little, but I remembered how defensive he got in "The Popular Kids" about the nightmares, so… Lemme know what you think, if you'd like! Thanks! Next chapter is L.D.S.K.

Oh, speaking of those who let me know what they think, thanks so much to cmwinner, SlasherrGirl, clt, criminalminds99, Lunalike, donttouch, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, Eriks angel 15, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, and RockerChild1987 for your reviews and to all who have put this on alert and favorite!


	7. Killer

Family

A/N: Welcome back, everyone! We shall now see how Spencer deals with his first kill, with a little help from Alex, perhaps…

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or a gun… not that I want that last one. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design. The names are, apparently, not very original, however.

-/\-

Chapter 7: Killer

Episode: L.D.S.K.

The past few weeks had been tense in the Reid household. When Spencer had returned from dropping JJ off, he had been in a terrible mood. Not about anyone or anything in particular, but more about everything in general. He just wanted to be angry for a while, he'd told Julie and Alex. However, when his temper hadn't cooled off after a case, Julie asked if he planned on staying angry forever. He insisted it wasn't the disastrous date he was upset about, it was the UnSub from the latest case. He had profiled the whole team and mentioned something about autism when he came to Spencer. Julie and Alex both winced to hear that; autism had been a bit of a touchy topic with their brother since high school when he had been tested for it. He didn't resent being autistic, but he worried that people would hold it against him. He also worried that if the UnSub had thought of it, his teammates might have, too.

He hadn't had much time to worry about it, however, because he was coming up on his firearms requalification exam and was in danger of failing. He had came home later one night that week and announced that he had done just that and said no more about it.

However, the tension of the previous weeks was nothing compared to the air around him when he returned from his latest case. He shut the door quietly and dropped his bags by the door, something he rarely did, and headed into the living room where he could hear the TV. Alex and Julie sat on the couch and Julie looked up to greet him with her usual smile. The smile dropped off her face when she saw him. "What happened?" She asked, jumping off the couch.

Alex looked up and his face registered shock as he turned off the TV and stood up. To say Spencer bruises and split lip came as a surprise to his siblings would be an understatement. "What happened?" Julie demanded again when Spencer didn't answer.

"Well… I'm not having trouble hitting the target anymore." He replied with hesitation.

"What?" Julie asked, confused.

"Okay, you hit the target… but what hit _you_?" Alex asked, gesturing towards Spencer's face.

Spencer sighed and sat down to explain. He started with how they had figured out the UnSub was an emergency room employee. He explained about getting hit with the butt of Dowd's automatic. He left out the things that Hotch said about him to gain Dowd's confidence, and told them that Hotch had gotten the gun to him, leaving out that he had several badly bruised ribs to show for it. "… And once I had the gun, it was over." He concluded his tale.

"Well… are you okay?" Julie asked.

"I'm okay. The paramedics said it's just a few bruises. They'll heal in a little while and I'll be fine." Spencer reassured his shaken siblings.

They sat in silence for a short time until Spencer noticed Alex staring intently at him. "Julie, did you finish your homework?" Spencer asked.

"Uh… no. But…" Julie began to protest but sighed when she realized he was only trying to get rid of her. "I'll go finish it."

When he heard Julie's door shut, Alex spoke. "He's dead, isn't he?"

Spencer didn't even have to ask who Alex meant, he simply nodded. "Right here." He mumbled, touching his forehead.

"Wow. And you were having trouble hitting the target?" Alex asked quietly. "Are you alright?"

Spencer shook his head. "I-I k-killed a man. He's d-dead because of me." The reality finally began to hit him, as Gideon had said it would. "The reason I was having trouble hitting the target was because I didn't really want to. Why would I want to shoot a paper man in the head? But… I wanted to h-hit Dowd. I needed to shoot him… but some part of m-me… wanted to k-kill him."

Alex placed a hand on his brother's thin shoulder. "He was a murderer."

"And now, so am I." Spencer finally allowed a few tears to escape his eyes.

Alex was at a loss for what to say for a moment. What could you say to someone who had just shot a man? Did it really matter to him that it had been to save people's lives? Finally, he settled on an argument. "No. He was about to kill you and your boss and possibly a lot of other people. Would you have just gone up and shot him for no reason?"

"Oh course not! But…"

"Would you just randomly shoot someone?"

"No!"

"Then you're not a murderer in my book, Spencer." Alex said, squeezing Spencer's shoulder.

Spencer sighed and sat back, allowing more tears to slip down his cheeks. Alex sat beside him the whole time without saying a word. Though it was still a little unnerving, he had grown used to being the only person Spencer felt comfortable crying in front of. Finally, after a little while, Spencer seemed to feel a little better.

Two weeks later, he passed his retest with flying colors. He doubted he'd ever have trouble hitting what he was aiming for again.

-/\-

A/N: Poor Spence… I suppose this one was a bit short… and the next one will be shorter, I'm afraid. But I'll be back with a few longer ones soon, I promise. Hope you're enjoying so far! Review, if you'd like… Thanks!

Speaking of which, bunches of thank yous to donttouch, 92, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, clt, Rasgara, KASEY64, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, morgo7kc, Eriks angel 15, rinswan, RockerChild1987, and CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ for your wonderful reviews! Thank you, also, to those of you who have put this on alert and on your favorites!


	8. Like Magic

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! Okay, this one's going to be pretty short, but I promise the next one will be much longer. That's about it… enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or Texas. I really don't want that last one. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 8: Like Magic

Episode: Derailed

At 4:00 PM, Julie and Alex returned to the apartment, after Alex had retrieved Julie from school, and separated into their routines. Alex locked the front door and went into his room while Julie dropped her things off in her room and went straight to her computer as she did whenever she got the news that Spencer was on a case.

She had the oldest computer in the house, a hazard of being the youngest; it was a desktop which had taken up residence on the desk next to Spencer's in the corner of the living room. It was easy to tell the two apart; Julie's desk was always relatively empty, only covered in a few papers, sticky notes and knick-knacks. Spencer's desk was an organized disaster area. Though he insisted he knew exactly where everything was, it was unlikely that anyone else would ever find what they were looking for on it. The surface was covered with precariously stacked piles of case files and paper while pens and pencils littered the top in oddly neat lines and sticky notes with scribbled writing took up any other empty space. He was always careful not to leave photos out in the open, however.

Sitting down at her desk, she entered her query into a search engine and sifted through news articles until she found what she was looking for. The headline made her blood run cold. _"BAU Called to Hostage Situation in Southern Texas."_

She read through the article quickly; she couldn't read anywhere near the speed that Spencer could, but it was a short article. It didn't inspire much confidence. All it said was that the BAU was negotiating the release of the hostages, which included two men and three women. It was rumored that one of the hostages was an FBI agent, and that was what had Julie out of her seat and on her way to Alex's room.

She waited impatiently as he read over the article and then smiled reassuringly at her. "I don't think Spencer is one of the hostages. It was already a hostage situation when they got called in, right?" Julie nodded. "Then I don't think we have to worry about Spencer getting caught in the middle of this one."

-/\-

Early that evening, Spencer returned looking tired but no worse for wear. "Hey, Julie." He greeted his sister wearily after putting his bags in his room and changing into more casual clothing.

"Hi. Was there really an FBI agent on the train?" She asked bluntly.

Spencer shook his head at his sister's lack of tact. "If I'm going to tell this story, Alex should be here too. I'm not telling it twice." He said, sitting down on the couch.

Julie nodded and summoned Alex from his room. When the three siblings were situated at various points around the living room, Spencer started recounting the events that had happened only hours ago. "Yes, there was an FBI agent on the train, it was Elle."

"Is she alright?" Alex asked; he had met the female agent once before when he had showed up to give Spencer a lift home and was rather fond of her.

Spencer nodded. "She was hit, but there was no permanent damage, she just has a headache. The person holding everyone hostage was… a paranoid schizophrenic." They all shifted uncomfortably. "He- he saw the FBI insignia on a folder Elle was looking through and thought she had been sent to spy on him. He kept asking for the Higher Authority."

"_What_ Higher Authority?" Julie asked.

Spencer shrugged. "_The_ Higher Authority. So we played the part. It turns out he wanted us to remove a microchip he believed to be implanted in his arm. So… I suggested they let me go on as a medical technician…"

"What?" Julie interrupted.

"It's okay, I had a Kevlar vest." Spencer conveniently left out the part where he had taken the vest off. "I went on and used a sleight of hand trick to "remove" the chip from his arm."

Alex snorted, a cynical half-smile on his lips. Julie glared at Spencer. "I can't believe you _volunteered_ to walk _in_ to a hostage situation." She muttered, shaking her head.

Spencer opened his mouth to say something in his defense but couldn't think of anything that would redeem him in the eyes of his irate siblings. Finally, he settled on the old standby. "I helped save people." He said quietly.

Neither said anything until Alex sighed. "You know, you promised to teach us that trick a long time ago." He said with a small smile.

Spencer stared at him for a second before he, too, broke into a smile. "I don't know… If I couldn't teach it to Morgan in half an hour, do you think I could teach you guys in a night?" He asked, teasing slightly.

"Oh, so because we're not geniuses… or genii… whatever- because we're not as smart as you, you think we can't get your magic tricks?" Julie replied.

"By the way, did you happen to mention to Morgan that that trick is one of the simplest you know?" Alex interjected.

"I may have neglected to mention that," Spencer said quickly before pulling a coin out of his pocket. "So, this is how it works…"

And, like magic, things were good between the three of them again; at least for the night.

-/\-

A/N: I think maybe everyone thought Reid was brave and somewhat stupid for going onto the train... I imagine if he were to tell family what he did, they'd skip the brave part and just think he was an idiot. Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed. And really, there's a nice 2,000-ish word chapter coming your way. Promise.

Thank you, as always, to those who have put this on their alerts and favorites, and a big thank you to criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, donttouch, clt, Daisyangel, RockerChild1987, criminalminds99, juniper294, rinswan, Lunalike, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, and morgo7kc for your wonderful reviews!


	9. Of Parties and Nightmares

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! I hope you're all enjoying so far. I promise, there'll be a little more of the team soon. Just a couple more things to get out of the way before I can bring in the others as well. Thanks for your patience!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds and the characters. For very good reason. Alex and Julie and Julie's friends are my own creation.

-/\-

Chapter 9: Of Parties and Nightmares

Episode: The Popular Kids

Spencer stood back and looked at his handiwork. He had never decorated for a 13-year-old girl's birthday party, but he decided that the living room looked pretty good. He had made use of the decorations left from his birthday, added some new ones which Alex had bought and the over-all effect seemed generally aesthetically pleasing. He glanced at the clock and found that Julie's three friends would be arriving in an hour. Though the small family usually celebrated birthdays quietly, when Julie had practically begged him to be allowed to throw an actual party, he had been hard-pressed to say no.

He moved into the kitchen and eyed the cake that was sitting on the counter. He gently pushed it back so it couldn't be knocked off. This was the third attempt he had made at making a birthday cake. While baking the first one, he had fallen asleep, tired from a case and the trouble he seemed to be having sleeping lately, and burned it. He had lost the second cake when he had made the mistake of asking Alex to frost it, and while he wasn't exactly sure how Alex had gotten the cake to stick to the ceiling, he had banned his younger brother from the kitchen altogether. He would be damned if anything happened to this cake. "Wow, this looks great, Spencer!" Julie called from the living room.

"Yeah, it's not bad." Spencer nodded, joining her. "Is your room clean?"

"Yep. Everything's ready." Julie giggled. "This is kind of exciting… that's sad isn't it?"

Spencer shook his head. "I don't think so, but I'm not really the benchmark for normal…"

Birthday parties were impossible when they had lived in Las Vegas and Julie hadn't asked to have friends over since they had moved to Virginia. Because of this, Spencer was at a bit of a loss for what to expect or even what to do. He had simply allowed Julie to instruct him on the norm for parties.

He had been informed that birthday cake and pizza were necessities, as well as chips or popcorn. Decorations were nice, but nothing over the top. He, apparently, had to take pictures as well. Otherwise, she had said they would take care of themselves. Spencer and Alex planned on waiting the whole night out in their respective rooms, unless their presence was required. Dealing with hyper 13-year-old girls was not in their repertoire.

-/\-

Spencer was in his room, surfing on his laptop and killing time until Julie's friends began arriving when the doorbell rang. He headed for the door, but Julie intercepted him. "I've got it!" She told him before pulling the door open. There was a slightly chubby girl with long, light brown hair and glasses on the other side. There was also a tall, blonde man standing behind the girl. "Tina!" Julie greeted her friend, stepping aside and allowing the two in.

The man, presumably Tina's father, stepped up to Spencer, offering his hand and a friendly smile. "Reese McMillan." He introduced himself. "And you must be Julie's infamous big brother. A genius FBI agent, I hear."

"Actually, I don't really believe intelligence can be accurately quantified…" Spencer began his spiel, but stopped at the look Julie was giving him. "Uh, yeah, that's me. Spencer Reid."

"Wonderful." Reese shook his hand enthusiastically and then headed for the door. "Well, thanks for letting Tina stay the night, I'll be back at noon tomorrow. Have fun, girls."

With that, Reese McMillan was gone. "Sorry about my dad, telling him you were an FBI agent was the only way I could get him to let me stay over." Tina shrugged, staring up at Spencer.

"No, it's- uh, fine." Spencer assured her as Julie took the girl's bag and gift.

Before anyone had a chance to do much of anything else, the doorbell went off again. This time there was a lone girl on the other side. She was slender and wore her blonde hair pulled back in a headband. She was identified as Lianne Simmons. "Um, hi… are your parents coming up?" Spencer asked, casting a look around as though he expected them to jump out of the coat closet.

"No," Lianne shrugged. "But they'll be back at noon to get me."

"Oh… okay. Uh, make yourself at home, I guess and…" Before Spencer could get further, the doorbell rang a third and final time.

Julie answered the door and revealed a girl with dark hair and eyes who looked much younger than the other girls, with freckles and wire-framed glasses. She stepped into the apartment and Spencer realized that she was dwarfed by everyone by several inches at least. A severe-looking man with dark brown hair stepped in after her, glaring at Spencer. "I'm Ben Tanner, Margret's father. Maggie told me there would be adult supervision." He said curtly.

"Uh, yes… that would be me." Spencer said, trying not to sound snippy. "I'm Julie's older brother, Spencer Reid."

Ben looked him up and down with a critical eye. "You're in the FBI? How old are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"I'm 24." Spencer answered in a curt tone similar to the one Ben had been using.

Ben looked as though he would have liked to argue that point, but his daughter cleared her throat and glared over at him, causing him to drop it. "I'll be back at 12 sharp, Maggie." He said before taking his leave.

Finally, as the door shut, the girl spoke in an unexpectedly strong voice. "Sorry, about him." She paused and looked at Spencer, seeming to guess what he was thinking. "Yes, I'm actually Julie's age." She smiled and shook Spencer's hand.

He was unsure of how to answer that, but she spoke again, saving him the trouble. "You're very tall." She observed in a matter-of-fact tone, still smiling.

Once again, he was unsure of what to say, but Julie came to his rescue. "I told you he was." She said, taking Maggie's bag and putting it with the others.

Julie went into the kitchen to put the gifts on the table and Spencer was left in the living room with three 13-year-old girls who were staring at him. For once, he was completely at a loss for what to say or do. He hadn't been sure what to do with teenage girls when he was their age and he certainly wasn't much better now. If he wasn't interviewing them about a crime, he had nothing to do with them. Julie came out of the kitchen, took in the look on his face and shook her head. "Thanks, Spencer; you can go now, if you want."

"Oh, um… didn't you say something about taking pictures or something like that?"

"No, I've got it. Thanks."

"Okay, I'll, um… order dinner in an hour and… you guys- uh, girls have fun?" He offered before retreating to his room, relieved to be going.

"So, how'd it go?" Alex, who was sitting on the end of Spencer's bed, asked.

"I feel like they were all staring at me." Spencer mumbled, sitting down in front of his laptop.

"They probably were." Alex laughed.

"Why?" Spencer asked incredulously.

Alex shrugged. "Take whatever attracted Taylor to you and add the fact that you're now an FBI agent… well, you have a degree in mathematics."

Spencer frowned. "That's not math." He said, fixing Alex with a confused stare.

Alex only laughed and left for the safety of his own room.

-/\-

Spencer opened his eyes and looked around. He was at a crime scene… he stood outside an old house, the decaying yard sectioned off by crime scene tape, the red and blue lights of police cars flashing on and off. But this wasn't right… where was everyone? Cautiously, he moved into the house and was plunged into darkness. Suddenly, he heard a cry. It was a baby's cry; it was in trouble, he knew. But where… where was it? If he listened hard, he could find it. But it was no use, the screams came from everywhere. They were all around him. Finally, there was a light in the distance! If he just ran to it, he could save the baby.

He ran as fast as he could and he could hear the cries getting louder. And there was the baby, in a circle of light. But there was a man standing over it- no, not a man; a monster. He was twisted and misshapen, his eyes were dark holes. Spencer ran harder, faster, but he was too late. The monster snatched the baby just out of his reach. It brought the baby to its face and- Spencer sat up in bed, shaking and panting.

His breath came in ragged gasps as he slowly recalled where he was. He was at home, in bed. It had only been a nightmare. Another one.

The night came back to him bit by bit. He had ordered three pizzas for dinner and taken pictures of Julie opening presents and had spent most of the night in his room, falling asleep around midnight. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was 2:30. Hushed voices from outside his room reminded him that there were four teenage girls nesting in the living room. He was about to lay back down and try to get back to sleep when the screaming from his dream returned. This time, however, it came from the living room.

Spencer leapt out of bed faster than he'd previously thought possible and flew into the living room, flipping on the lights. The four occupants of the room screamed again as he did so, turning to face him. "Spencer!" Julie's voice came out of the screams. "You scared the _hell_ out of us!"

"I scared you?" Spencer asked incredulously, his voice gaining an octave. "Why are you screaming?"

"We're watching a movie!"

Spencer's eyes flicked to the television screen where some unknown horror movie still played. "Oh…" His heart beat began to even out again before he glared over at the four girls. "Should you be watching that?"

"It's PG-13…" Lianne told him, holding up the case.

Spencer shook his head. "Okay. Uh… don't stay up much later." With that, he returned to his room, feeling a little sheepish.

After a moment, Julie followed him. "I'm sorry we woke you up… are you okay?" She asked quietly.

"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Spencer replied.

"You've been really tired lately, I heard you shouting last night, you fell asleep while baking a cake and, Spencer, you ran out in front of my friends without a shirt on." Julie pointed to his bare torso.

Suddenly becoming aware of his half-dressed state, Spencer turned red and snatched his robe off the end of his bed to put on. When Julie was still staring at him expectantly, he sighed. "I… I've been having dreams… Nightmares." He muttered.

Julie seemed a little surprised by his admittance, but nodded. "It's understandable. You should talk to someone."

Spencer shook his head. "I can deal with this on my own." He said adamantly. "No one else seems bothered with them and… I don't want them to think I'm having trouble."

Sighing, Julie turned to leave, but not before adding one more quiet comment. "It's not healthy to keep things bottled up."

When she was gone, the door shut behind her, Spencer sighed and got back into bed. Facts began to rush through his brain unbidden. _Pent up emotions can lead to a short temper, escapism, depression, or even physical illness. It can even lead to "exploding" at people who do not deserve it when the emotions need release…_ He sighed again. Maybe could talk to _someone_. Maybe he'd ask Morgan about it on Monday…

-/\-

A/N: So, that's my story behind Reid's nightmares (as mentioned in The Popular Kids). Plus, the idea of Reid attempting to arrange a girl's slumber party was just plain entertaining. Hope you guys enjoyed!

I officially have gotten more reviews for this story than I've gotten for any other thing I've written! I'm all excited and stuff. So, thank you to criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, clt, RockerChild1987, Eriks angel 15, morgo7kc, criminalminds99, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, Daisyangel, KASEY64, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, Rasgara, and donttouch for your wonderful reviews and thank you also to everyone who has put this on their alerts and favorites!


	10. The Lost Art of Communication

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! Finally, I've gotten around to a JJ/Reid chapter. I actually did not plan on this chapter being next, but the original chapter 10 was sort of useless, so I just took it out. Anyway, enough rambling and on with the show. Hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or a tabloid. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 10: The Lost Art of Communication

Episode: Somebody's Watching

Spencer walked through the door and locked it behind himself. Lately, he supposed he ought to be feeling happy or even proud; after all, a Hollywood starlet had kissed him. On purpose, even. However, he only felt somewhat disappointed and a little ashamed. Lila Archer was not who he wanted. He sighed as he went to his room to unpack and repack his go bag and change out of his work clothes. He was almost positive that the person he _did_ want did not want him. Not after the disaster that had been the end of their date.

Of course he loved his mother and brother and sister, but it was sometimes easier to let people find out about them in little bursts and not on the first date. _At least we're still friends,_ he reasoned. He would have hated to lose her friendship on top of any romantic interest she might have had.

He glanced at the clock and realized that there was still time to make dinner. He headed back out into the dark living room and flipped on the light, jumping when he saw Julie sitting on the couch, her arms folded, clutching a magazine. "Julie, why are you sitting out here in the dark?"

"I was waiting for you." She said quietly.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Spencer asked worriedly.

"No, no. I was just wondering… what is the meaning of this?" She demanded, throwing the magazine she was holding down on the table.

The bottom dropped out of Spencer's stomach he realized it was the tabloid with his and Lila's picture on it. "W-where did you get that?" He asked, staring down at the periodical.

"Alex pointed it out while we were grocery shopping today. He said it looked like you. I went up to look at it and I realized… it _is_ you."

"You can't be sure of that, I mean, t-there's…"

"Playing dumb is impossible for you, Spencer. This is you and we both know it." She accused.

Spencer only looked at her as innocently as he could and waited for her to continue. He wasn't technically guilty of anything, after all. Julie's eyes narrowed. "You like JJ," She hissed. "So why are you running around with an actress?"

"I wasn't running around with her, I was protecting her." Spencer defended himself.

"Oh, yeah, you look really protective right there." Julie nudged the tabloid with one finger. "And that doesn't matter anyway. _You like JJ_."

"Well, JJ doesn't like me, so I should just get over it."

"For once, you're wrong, Spencer." Julie and Spencer looked to the doorway, where they saw Alex standing.

"Look, I'm not exactly normal on my own. Then there's you guys. No offense, but you're not something you generally bring out on the first date. "Oh, by the way, my mom's a paranoid schizophrenic who can't care for herself and I have custody of two minors. How about dinner?" Not the best first impression." Spencer managed to put a halt to his ranting and lower his voice. "I-I'm not ashamed of you. I could never be. But this whole situation doesn't exactly scream "date me"."

"Well, you never know how someone's going to react. JJ seemed shocked, but okay. You didn't really give her a fair chance." Alex said.

"Yeah, you just kind of forced her out of the apartment." Julie agreed.

Spencer sighed. "Well, it's too late now. Between that and the whole thing with Lila, I've probably blown any and all chances with JJ."

Alex picked the cordless phone up off the charger on the end table and tossed it to Spencer who fumbled slightly, but caught it. "There's only one way to know for sure." He told his older brother.

Looking from the phone to his siblings and back, Spencer sighed again. "You know, it's not fair when you two gang up on me." He told them as he dialed a number that, along with every other number he had ever dialed, he had memorized long ago.

Alex smirked as he and Julie exited to their respective rooms. "You should be able to out-argue two teenagers with that so-called genius brain. Face it, you wanted to lose this argument."

Spencer shook his head and put the phone to his ear. He realized belatedly that he had no idea what he was going to say. "_Jareau_." Too late now.

"H-hey, JJ. I- uh, this is Reid."

"_Yeah, Reid, I have caller I.D. What did you need?_"

She sounded irritated; he didn't blame her. "I, uh, actually hadn't thought that far ahead… I just need to talk to you."

"_Okay. So talk, I'm listening._"

"I- I'm not really very experienced with things like this but, I'm pretty sure this is the type of stuff you don't say over the phone…"

Spencer heard JJ sigh on the other end of the line. "_Reid, I'm really not sure this is the best time for this, so maybe…_"

He could tell he was losing her and he had to do something to keep her on the line. "I'm sorry!" He blurted out, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"_Um… that's fine, Reid, we can just talk tomorrow._"

"No, I mean I'm sorry for… everything. I'm sorry for panicking and pushing you away when you found out about my family and I'm _really_ sorry about the whole Lila thing and…" He realized she had been attempting to get his attention.

"_Spence! Look, I can be over there in about 10 minutes, okay?_"

Spencer nodded even though she couldn't see him. "Yeah, that's fine."

"_See you then._"

-/\-

JJ was glad of her skill at hiding her emotions, acquired from working with the press, as she stood outside Spencer's apartment, or she knew she would have looked like a nervous wreck. She wasn't sure she would like all of the things Spencer had to say, but at least she would get answers. She had been disappointed, to say the least, with the way their date had turned out. Not because of the information she had accidentally brought into the open, but because of Spencer's reaction. However, it seemed as though he was ready to explain his actions and it was too late to turn back now as she raised her hand to press the doorbell. In less than thirty seconds, the door opened to reveal a man who looked as nervous as she felt. "Hi… JJ." He greeted her with a small wave and an equally small smile.

"Hey, Spence." She made an effort to give a miniscule smile as well.

They stood there for a minute before Spencer's brain seemed to kick back into action. "Uh, do y-you want to come in?" He asked, standing aside so she could pass into the apartment.

"Well, that is kind of why I'm here." She said as she stepped over the threshold.

"Right." Spencer nodded and followed her into the living room.

They sat down on the couch facing each other and were engulfed in silence. Finally, JJ cleared her throat and looked Spencer in the eye. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

He looked away and back again before answering. "I-I need to explain… and I have to ask you a question." JJ nodded and he continued. "My family has never been normal or really any variation thereof. Since I was 10, I've been taking care of my mother and brother and sister. I-I took care of the house and bills and school and shopping and everything. It became so normal to me… imagine my surprise the first time I remember it's not."

JJ gave him a small smile of sympathy to go with his cynical one. "You have no idea how many friends and… g-girls have freaked out when they found out about my… situation. I just- stopped mentioning it. It's not that I want to _hide_ it, I just… I worry what people- like the team- will think," Spencer tried to explain quietly. "And I panicked when you found out sooner than I had planned. I was terrified that you would be upset… I wouldn't have blamed you if you were, but… I couldn't take it."

"Spence…" JJ put her hand over his as she began to speak.

Spencer shook his head. "Please let me finish. That thing with Lila. I'm sorry. I know Morgan or Elle must have told you about it because you were ignoring me all the way home after that case. Again, I don't blame you. It was stupid and I know I was unprofessional…"

"_Wait_," JJ found herself interrupting. "You think I was angry because you were _unprofessional_?"

Spencer nodded, his wide brown eyes showing no sign of kidding. JJ gaped at him for a second before shaking her head. "I was angry because I was… I am… _jealous_." The last word came out almost as a whisper.

"_Jealous_?" Spencer repeated in disbelief. "Of what?"

JJ shifted uncomfortably. "Of Lila." She admitted. "You seemed so horrified that night after our date. I though you really didn't want there to be anything between us…"

"What? No! No, I thought… _you_ would be horrified and it would be easier to stop having feelings for you because I was sure I had ruined any chance we might have had…"

"Well, you didn't exactly give me a chance to react…"

"Yeah… there's- there's something to be said for communication skills in the future." Spencer grinned awkwardly.

JJ smiled as well. "As long as we're apologizing, though…" She grew more serious. "Your home life is none of my business. I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry."

Spencer shook his head, a blush creeping onto his face. "Don't be sorry… I'd like it to be your business. But I have to ask… what do you think?"

"Of what, Spence? We've talked about a lot."

"My family, my whole situation. Does it… is it… uh- upsetting?" He asked tentatively.

"Spence…" JJ took Spencer's hand. "Of course it's upsetting."

Hurt flashed across his face as he began to pull back. "Oh. Okay, I…"

"Let me finish." JJ told him, tightening her grip on his hand. "It's upsetting that a 10-year-old had to take care of a family of four people, including an infant and a mentally ill parent. It's upsetting that your father left. It's upsetting that you had to go through things I'm sure I can't imagine. It's upsetting because I care about you."

Spencer looked up, renewed hope in his eyes, as JJ continued. "Alex is pretty cool and Julie seems just as sweet and shy as you. I'm sure your mother must be a good woman, in spite of everything, because you're a good person and you've done a great job with your brother and sister."

Spencer was positively beaming by the time she had finished speaking. Though not usually much for physical contact, he gave her a quick, tentative hug. "Thank you. That means a lot, e-especially coming from you."

JJ surprised him by pulling him back into a hug as he moved to pull away. It felt good and they sat there for a short while, simply holding on to each other, before pulling apart. "So… now what?" Spencer asked uncertainly.

JJ shrugged and smiled. "We see where this goes. Don't over-analyze it, Spence. We can take it slow." She squeezed his hand, as much to reassure herself that they were really there as to reassure him. "Maybe we could have dinner? I am starving."

Spencer nodded, standing up. Now that his nervousness had dissipated, his appetite had returned with a vengeance. However, no sooner had he stood up than he felt JJ's hand on his shoulder. He turned back to face her and she met him in a kiss, standing on her tip-toes to reach him. They pulled back from the soft kiss, smiling. "What happened to taking it slow?" Spencer asked.

JJ only continued smiling up at him. "Well, I've been wanting to do that for a while now." She said. "You never did give me a kiss after our date."

"Oh. In that case…" Spencer pulled her back into another tentative kiss, where they stayed until he felt her smiling against his lips and pulled back. "What?"

She pointed to the doorway behind him, where he saw Alex and Julie standing, looking incredibly smug. "_Somebody's watching…_" JJ whispered in his ear and he promptly began to blush.

-/\-

A/N: Ah, no privacy… poor Spence 'n' JJ… I hope you guys enjoyed! A nice, fluffy chapter coming up next…

Also, this story has broken 100 reviews! I'm amazed and totally in awe of you awesome people who have been review this! Very big thank you to 92, donttouch, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, clt, Daisyangel, Eriks angel 15, criminalminds99, juniper294, rinswan, KASEY64, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, RockerChild1987, and morgo7kc for your reviews and another thank you to those of you who have put this on their alerts and favorites. You guys rock.


	11. Photographs

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! I must warn you, this chapter is pure fluff. Hope you enjoy. Oh, and by now we can say that JJ and Spencer had been dating for a few weeks.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, Mexico, or the Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald. Not that that last one has anything to do with the chapter. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 11: Photographs

Episode: Machismo

After their return from Mexico, Spencer invited JJ over for dinner. She had accepted on the condition she could go home, shower and change her clothes first. Spencer had gone back to the apartment to do the same and had started dinner by the time JJ arrived. Dinner itself had been quiet; JJ and Spencer had answered Alex and Julie's questions about Mexico and avoided the gruesome details of the case they had worked while they were there. They had all worked on their reports the night the case came to a close or decided to save them for later and the next day they'd spent the morning and early afternoon exploring the town before they'd had to return to D.C. Hotch hadn't exactly condoned the time for goofing-off like tourists, but they certainly didn't hear him complaining, either.

After dinner, Spencer produced two handmade journals he'd bought from a small shop he'd seen on the way to the local police station, and, of course, postcards from the airport. Julie and Alex now had cards from a good portion of the 50 states and Mexico. JJ had bought a necklace from a vendor there and then had bought one for Julie as well, which she had hoped the girl would like. She'd tried asking Spencer whether he thought Julie would like it, but when he began to go on about which trends were becoming popular in an attempt to tell JJ what Julie liked, JJ withdrew the question.

JJ reasoned that Julie, after living for 13 years with mainly male influences, needed a woman to talk to as well. Though JJ didn't want to overstep her boundaries, Julie seemed all too happy to accept both the necklace and the advice that JJ had begun to give her now and then.

After dinner, Alex and Julie had left the two agents to have time to themselves, as they hadn't for a solid week. They now sat side by side on the couch, relaxed in each other's company. JJ was looking towards the TV, though whether she was really watching it as she smiled and Spencer's thumb traced lazy circles of the back of her hand was anyone's guess. Spencer glanced back and forth between the smiling woman next to him and the laptop on the coffee table in front of him where his photos were loading. A sudden ding from the computer drew the attention of both agents. "Are your pictures done?" JJ asked, leaning forward to look at the computer screen.

"It looks like it." Spencer pulled the cord connecting his camera and the computer out of the USB port and put the computer on his lap.

"Can I see them?" JJ asked, leaning over to get a better view of the screen.

Spencer blushed slightly and JJ spared a thought to wonder if he would ever get used to her being in close proximity. "Uh… W-we just got back, we don't have to look at them now." He stuttered.

"C'mon, Spence, we don't all have eidetic memories like you." JJ paused, allowing herself to become temporarily distracted. "Why _do_ you take pictures, anyway, if you remember everything you see?"

"Various reasons…" Spencer told her, glad for the distraction. "I took pictures when I was younger because it was normal. No one else would go to a memorable event without a camera. I didn't want to stand out, so I took pictures. Then I really got to like it. Also…"

JJ waited for him to continue, but he seemed uncomfortable. "What is it?" She asked gently.

"I… wanted something to look back on in case I ever… uh, become like my mom…" He finished quietly.

JJ did not know a lot about Reid's mother other than the fact that she had schizophrenia and resided in a mental hospital in Las Vegas. What she did know was that schizophrenia was genetically passed and Spencer was terrified of it. She squeezed his hand and moved closer to him. "So, let me see the pictures you took." She said finally, turning to face the laptop screen.

"I- wouldn't you rather do something else? There are a lot of things we could do…"

"Like what?"

Spencer paused before he spoke again. "Something other than looking at pictures." He said finally.

"Spence, why are you so against me seeing these pictures?" JJ asked, pulling the computer into her lap, against Spencer's protests. "They're good."

Finally giving up his attempts to reclaim his computer, Spencer watched nervously as JJ scrolled through the pictures he had taken. There were photos of shops and vendors and Day of the Dead decorations and all sorts of things one would expect to find on a tourist's camera, as well as several shots of the team. Then she reached the point he had been dreading. "Spence, what's this?"

Spencer winced when she spoke before realizing that there was no outrage in her voice; only amusement. "That's… you… by the pool at the hotel." He said slowly.

"Oh? And how did that get there?" She asked in mock seriousness.

"I took the picture. I'm sorry, JJ, it was an impulsive act. I'll delete it…" Spencer said in a rush, reaching over to hit the delete button.

JJ laughed. "It's fine, Spence, I'm only teasing. Just give a girl a little warning next time. My hair looks awful."

Spencer looked over at the picture on his computer screen. JJ sat on one of the deck chairs smiling and talking to Elle, who was out of the frame. She wore a lime green two-piece suit that she had picked up in town and her hair was ruffled by a breeze. "I think you look beautiful." He said, turning to JJ.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Dr. Reid." JJ said coyly, but she smiled and kissed him anyway.

They continued looking through photos and Spencer furrowed his brow. "I didn't take these…"

"Don't you remember? I took some pictures while we were by the pool. Or were you too distracted by my bathing suit?" JJ smiled and Spencer blushed.

When they came to the last photo in the file, Spencer's eyebrows went up and it was JJ's turn to blush. "JJ, what's this?" He asked the blushing liaison.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." JJ said innocently, moving to close the file.

Spencer gently grabbed her hand to keep her from clicking and leaned forward as if inspecting the photo. "It appears to be me by the pool at the hotel…" He observed in a teasing tone.

The picture showed Spencer sitting at the edge of the pool, having just pulled himself out, his legs still dangling over the edge and beads of water dripping down his skin. The bright blue swim trunks patterned with palm trees that JJ had somehow talked him into buying clung to his skin and his bangs hung in his face, dripping with water. "Is it?" JJ asked, still innocent. "I have no idea how that got there."

"Oh, really?"

JJ opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by Spencer's kiss. She responded by placing the computer on the floor and moving in closer. When they broke apart for breath, she smiled. "Not that I'm complaining, but aren't you supposed to ask questions when you interrogate someone?"

"This is a… new technique I'm trying." He told her with a small smile and a slight blush.

JJ laughed. "Well, I like it. As long as I'm the only person you try it on."

"Always." Spencer replied, pulling JJ in to demonstrate his point.

-/\-

A/N: Take the fluff while you can get it, because the next three chapters are all about the Fisher King! See you guys soon! If you'd like to review, it would make me quite happy.

Huge thank yous to morgo7kc, clt, RockerChild1987, SlasherrGirl, Eriks angel 15, criminalminds99, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, donttouch, KASEY64, and CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ for your wonderful reviews and to everyone who put this on their favorites and alerts. You guys are awesome!


	12. Visiting Vegas

Family

A/N: We have reached The Fisher King. I've altered the plot a fair bit at this point, though I try not to do so quite as much throughout the rest of the story… well, until the end… I've said too much! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, a sanitarium, Margery Kempe or some of the dialogue in this chapter. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 12: Visiting Vegas

Episode: The Fisher King (I)

JJ looked up as Reid came into her office and sat down in the chair on the other side of her desk. "Hey, Spence. Shouldn't you be getting home? Your plane leaves tonight."

Reid nodded but made no move to leave. "I wanted to say goodbye. I really wish you could've gotten a vacation too."

JJ gave him a small smile. "It's fine, Spence. Just be glad _you_ got the time you did and take Alex and Julie to Vegas."

Reid nodded again. "Yeah… We haven't seen… Mom in a while. Haven't had much time since I started at the BAU."

He seemed fixated on something JJ was sure he wouldn't have found remotely interesting if he weren't so distracted. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

When he didn't respond she tried again. "Spencer, are you okay?"

Reid's attention snapped back to JJ at the use of his full first name. "I'm alright, just… nervous."

JJ stood and walked around her desk to perch on the arm of the chair Reid sat in. She put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. "You'll be okay. Just watch, I'm sure as soon as you get there, you'll just be happy to see her." She soothed.

Reid was glad JJ was trying, but knew what she said simply was not true. However, rather than tell her that, he sat up farther in the chair and pulled JJ into a kiss. It was soft and sweet and things he wished he could say, but his words would fall short of. "I'm going to miss you." He told her quietly when they pulled apart.

"Seven days, Spence. Then you'll be back. Now get out of here." She said good-naturedly. "You may be on vacation, but I'm not. I need to make sure there's plenty of work for you when you get back and I don't need distractions, no matter how good they are."

Reid smiled, kissed her one more time, and turned to leave. "Don't stay too late, okay?" He said, turning back to face JJ before he left her office.

JJ smiled indulgently. "Yes, sir." She gave him a mock salute.

Rolling his eyes, Reid smiled left for the elevator. JJ watched him go and returned to her work. Or, tried to, at least. Sighing, she dropped her pen and shut the file she had been reading. _Damn it, Reid,_ she thought to herself, _now I'm too distracted._

Rather than sit in her office, frustrated, she decided to go visit Garcia. She almost laughed when Garcia explained that she was on an online date but quieted when the tech described her 'date.' "Look, we meet online at specified times that he is never late to. We spend hours adventuring and chatting during which time I have his undivided attention and he lavishes me with flattery. When was the last time you had a date go that well?" Garcia asked smugly.

JJ made a show of counting on her fingers before turning back to Garcia with a sweet smile. "Saturday." She told her.

Garcia's eyebrows went up appreciatively. "Well, well! This is news. You going to see him again? Or have you _been_ seeing him?"

Sinking into a chair next to Garcia, JJ paused for a moment, deciding whether or not to answer. While she and Reid weren't keeping their relationship a _secret_, they hadn't agreed to tell anyone either. "I've… been seeing him."

"Why was I not informed? How long has this been going on?" Garcia demanded, Camelot temporarily forgotten.

JJ shrugged. "I'm not going to share every piece of my personal life with you guys. I'm allowed to have secrets."

"Alright, alright. Just answer me this: do I know him?"

JJ froze for a second before regaining her calm demeanor. "Yes, you know him." She said as she moved to get up.

Garcia's eyes widened. "I _do_? Hmm… Oh, JJ, is he in the BAU?"

"I think I've answered enough questions about my personal life for one night." JJ said, opening the door to leave before Garcia could sniff out the answer.

"He _is_, isn't he? It's not…" Garcia gasped. "It's not Morgan, is it? Because if it is, I'm going to have to commit serious cyber crimes on you."

JJ laughed. "It's not Morgan. Have fun on your date." She called as she shut the door behind her.

-/\-

On the other side of the country, the next day, Spencer pulled up in front of Bennington Sanitarium. He, Alex and Julie piled out of the car they had rented when they had arrived in Las Vegas last night. They entered the building, glad for the air conditioning as the temperatures in Vegas were already approaching the 90s. Spencer stepped up to the front desk to sign them in as visitors while Alex waited beside him with well-contained impatience and Julie bounced eagerly on her heels, making no effort to contain her excitement.

Though Spencer was terrified of schizophrenia, his siblings seemed to pay it less attention. They both knew it could be passed genetically, but Alex had decided to pay in no heed unless the subject came up and Julie, intelligent though she was, was a little young yet to understand the enormity of mental illness. While Spencer dreaded having to see his mother in her condition, Alex and Julie looked forward to the rare visits and he endured them, if only for their sakes. He knew it was selfish to make them suffer for his fear. However, some small part of him couldn't help but think they didn't understand completely; _they_ hadn't had to care for her as he had… "Remember, she doesn't know I work for the FBI." He admonished as they headed for the stairs. "While we're here, I'm not the government."

"We know." Julie said from behind him, her trek up the stairs somewhat hindered by her high-heeled sandals.

It was an unspoken rule that they all dressed nicely when visiting Diana Reid. Nothing terribly fancy, but a blouse or button-down shirt and a skirt or slacks in place of t-shirt and jeans was something they all felt was somehow necessary.

They reached the day room where they had been told their mother would be and Spencer froze in the doorway, clutching the book they'd brought as a gift to his chest. _I can't do this… Oh, God, I can't do this!_ He was about to tell Alex and Julie to go ahead and that he would be in in a minute, but they seemed to read his mind. Julie pried one of his hands away from the book he was still clutching like a lifeline and led him gently across the room to where Diana sat. "Mom!" She said happily as she drew closer to her mother's chair.

Diana's head snapped up and she looked in surprise at the three people approaching her, addressing each of them in turn. "Julie, Spencer, Alex. What are you doing here?"

"We're here to visit you, Mom." Spencer said with a timid smile as he liberated his hand from Julie's.

"Oh. Wonderful!" She smiled. "Don't just stand over there, come here."

Julie was the first to take Diana up on her order, and headed for the chair. "Ah!" Diana called out as Julie nearly stepped on a book of poems. "Watch out for the books!"

"Eep!" Julie froze. "I'm sorry!"

Slowly and carefully, she picked her way around notes and books until she sat down in the large armchair next to her mother, who encircled her in a hug. Alex, just as carefully, moved to sit on the arm of the chair and gave Diana a hug. Spencer pulled up a folding chair, gently moving some books aside, and sat down. "We brought you this." He said, holding out the book he had been hugging. "It's Margery Kempe- your favorite."

Diana took the book and turned it over in her hands, appraising it. "This is one of her minor works." She noted, her eyes scanning the cover.

Spencer seemed unsure how to respond and Alex came to his rescue. "We're pretty sure you have all her major works by now." He told her.

Diana did not respond, but opened to the first page and began reading. After a minute or so, when she made no move to do anything else, the siblings exchanged looks. Finally, Julie spoke up. "Do you want to read it to us?"

Smiling, Diana nodded as she started to read the book aloud. Some patients occasionally found their way over and listened for a short while, but until visiting hours were over, Diana and her children were aware only of the book in her hands.

-/\-

The next day, Spencer and his siblings came up the stairs and moved to go into the day room. Though he trailed slightly behind the other two, Spencer was less nervous today. However, before they could go into the next room, the woman at the desk by the stairs caught his attention. "Dr. Reid!" She called, causing him and his siblings to stop and turn. "Someone left this at the desk for you yesterday."

Spencer eyed the envelope in the nurse's hands with confusion. "You guys go ahead. I'll be there in a minute." He told Alex and Julie, who nodded and went on into the room.

He took the envelope and opened it carefully, revealing a skeleton key and a note. As he read through the note quickly, his brows knit together in confusion. "If my brother or sister come looking for me, please tell them I went outside to make a call." Spencer told the confused nurse behind the desk.

Without waiting for an answer, he went back downstairs, his mind already whirling with possibilities.

-/\-

Spencer was fairly sure his eyebrows were stuck in a permanent expression of surprise. He sighed as he snapped his phone shut and headed back into the building. This was definitely not good. Anger and disappointment swirled around in his head, but he pushed those feelings aside; they wouldn't do him any good. If this UnSub knew where he was, he had to keep his siblings in his sight. However, the one feeling he couldn't shake was guilt. Guilt over the fact that he wasn't sorry to be leaving.

-/\-

A/N: I've never written anything with Diana in it before, I hope she came out alright. I'd better get used to it anyway, because she'll be in a few more chapters before we're done. So I hope you guys enjoyed. The next one takes a bit of a time jump, and continues in the Fisher King (II). Review if you want, it would be very nice of you.

Happiness and hugs go out to clt, RockerChild1987, Eriks angel 15, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, KASEY64, criminalminds99, and CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ for your wonderful reviews and a big thank you to all those who have put this on their alerts and favorites as well!


	13. Revealing NotSecrets

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! This one's going to be a bit longer than the last one, which is good, I think? This chapter starts right after Reid calls the Vegas field office about his mom. So, without further ado (minus the disclaimer), the Fisher King part 2 of 3.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, and some of the dialogue included in this chapter. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 13: Revealing Not-Secrets

Episode: The Fisher King (II)

Reid hung up the phone after Agent Quinn with the Las Vegas field office assured him his mother would be handled with care and respect and slumped down in a chair. "Reid?" Garcia ventured quietly.

Reid did not turn around; he knew she had overheard him and she probably deserved some sort of explanation, but he couldn't face her at the moment. "What's going on? Is this guy after your family?" She asked with a little more force.

Garcia did not expect the reaction she received; rather than giving a quiet explanation Reid leapt up and snatched the phone again, quickly punching in a number. "Alex?" He nearly shouted into the phone. "Did you pick up Julie from school yet?"

Garcia waited while Reid listened to 'Alex' on the other end, whoever that was, and responded to whatever had been said, his voice more controlled this time. "Okay, listen, when you get her, I want you to come straight here… No, I need you to stay calm. It's probably nothing and I might be overreacting… I'll tell you when you get here, just be careful, okay? …Yeah, see you then."

Hanging up the phone, Reid finally turned to face Garcia, whose eyes he could feel boring into the back of his skull. "Reid, what's happening?" She demanded.

As nonchalantly as possible, Reid sat down again and explained. "That riddle… it's about my mom. She… she lives in a full-time mental hospital in Las Vegas, which is why I had to call the field office there."

He watched as Garcia took the seat across from him, looking shocked and a little confused. He continued speaking when she didn't say anything. "She's not going to like the agents coming to pick her up… She, uh… she's schizophrenic and she doesn't really trust the government." Reid paused and sighed. "She doesn't know I work for the FBI, but I write her about… well, everything. She calls our cases my 'adventures'."

He paused and Garcia still seemed at a loss for words. "You know, I write her a letter every day." He admitted quietly.

Garcia finally smiled. "That's really nice."

Reid returned her smile with a cynical edge. "It depends on why I write them." He paused and Garcia opened her mouth to ask why, but he spoke again. "It's so I won't feel so guilty about not visiting her… You know, when I got that message from the UnSub, I felt so horrible because I thought I felt… _glad_ to be leaving. But I think maybe it's not that I wanted to go, it's that I was… relieved." He let out a short laugh. "That's not much better, though, is it?"

Unsure of how to respond, Garcia was silent for a moment before she finally asked a question. "What do you tell her in the letters? About your job, I mean."

"I encourage her idea about the adventures. I give her the gist of cases, but I never tell her details. I never mention the FBI. As I said, she doesn't trust the government." He smirked. "But I should've realized… Nobody knows things like the fact that JJ collected butterflies or that Gideon likes Nellie Fox but me. People tell me their secrets… I think it's because they think I don't have anyone to betray them to. But I write my mom about them."

Garcia shook her head. "I really don't think anyone would mind…"

However, Reid didn't appear to be listening as he leaned forward and resting his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. Now that the dam had broken, everything was coming out whether he wanted it to or not. "You know, schizophrenia is genetically passed." He interrupted. "It's why I never tell anyone about her. I don't want you guys to treat me differently because I could… I don't even know. Snap?"

Garcia looked over at him and saw he was staring at her, an unspoken question in his wide brown eyes. "I don't even know why I'm telling _you_ this. You didn't ask… I just…" Reid mumbled, looking away.

Tentatively Garcia reached over and draped an arm across his shoulders. He tensed under her touch but then relaxed and she pulled him into a full hug. "It's okay, Reid." She told him quietly.

When she pulled back and sat in her own seat, he seemed calmer and gave her a small smile, which she returned. "So, tell me," She said after a moment, "Who're Alex and Julie?"

Reid seemed to shy away again for a moment before speaking. "My brother and sister. They, uh… live with me."

"Why not your dad?"

"He left. When I was 10. I don't know where he is and I don't think I'd let him have them if I did."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I…" Garcia attempted to backpedal.

"No, don't be, Garcia…" Reid stood up out of his chair. "Thank you for listening."

Garcia smiled. "Anytime, my sweet genius."

Reid blushed and headed out into the bullpen. Garcia waited until he had gone before slumping forward on the table. "Wow…"

-/\-

"Spencer!" Reid's head snapped up at the sound of his name and he saw Alex and Julie across the dimly lit office, both baring visitor's badges.

"Guys, over here." He stood up, calling them over to his desk.

They hurried over, looking worried and irritated at being kept in the dark. "Spencer, what's going on?" Julie asked, dropping her book bag by his desk.

"Yeah, what gives? First we leave Vegas after only two days, then you've been holed up at the office since we got back and now you drag us over here, too…" Alex rattled off.

"I'm sorry for all of that. That package at the desk at Bennington was left there for me by an UnSub."

"What? He knows where Mom is?" Alex interjected.

"He knows where everyone is. Guys- he shot Elle."

"Oh, my God." Julie covered her mouth.

"Is she okay?" Alex asked, looking pale.

"She's in surgery, that's all I know. I spoke to the Las Vegas field office and they're going to pick up Mom."

This information seemed to calm his siblings somewhat. "Did… he mention us at all?" Julie asked quietly.

Reid shook his head. "No, I'm just… trying to keep you safe. Just in case."

The three stood in nervous silence for a short time that was broken by Garcia. "She's okay."

Reid jumped and turned to face the colorful tech. "What?"

"Your mom. They just picked her up, she's on her way here."

Reid nodded and sat down at his desk, looking relieved. He looked up again when Garcia cleared her throat. "Aren't you going to introduce me to these lovely mini-Reids here?"

"Oh, sorry. Guys, this is Penelope Garcia, she's a technical analyst…"

"The best Quantico has to offer." Garcia interrupted.

"Most definitely." Reid smiled, then turned to Alex. "This is Alexander…"

"Ah, another handsome, young genius in the family; be still my heart." Garcia said flirtatiously, taking Alex's proffered hand.

"I'm no genius, but I'll take that handsome bit." Alex smiled. "And just Alex is fine."

"…And this is Juliet." Reid said, drawing Garcia's attention to his sister.

Julie gave a small wave and a smile. "I go by Julie." She said shyly.

Garcia scrutinized her for a moment before announcing; "Oh, you're definitely Reid's sister."

"Um… okay?" Julie replied unsurely.

Looking at the three of them made Garcia a little sad. Had their family not been broken, they would have been the envy of any community. Three beautiful, intelligent siblings, one of whom was already amazingly successful and a genius to boot, would have been something any parent would be proud of. Whoever their father was, he must be an idiot, Garcia decided, mentally ill wife or no. She shook out of her reverie and approached Julie. "So, what's it been like living with two guys for so many years?" She asked.

Julie thought for a second before answering carefully. "Interesting."

Garcia grinned. "Oh, I feel you, sister. I have _four_ brothers."

"Wow. How'd you survive childhood?" Julie's eyebrows went up.

Chuckling quietly, Garcia tossed an arm around Julie's shoulders and led her in the direction of her office. "Come, grasshopper, we have much to discuss."

Reid and Alex seemed somewhat shell-shocked at how quickly Garcia had abducted their sister. Reid recovered first, more used to the eccentric woman by now and called after the pair. "Garcia, please don't corrupt my little sister."

Garcia didn't turn around, but waved a hand dismissively at him and he could hear Julie laughing. Reid shook his head and turned to Alex. "You'd better go with them. I should get back to work."

Alex gave him a look that clearly stated 'I'll get you for this' before he, too, headed for Garcia's self-proclaimed Bat Cave.

-/\-

Hours later, JJ, Garcia, Alex and Julie watched as Hotch, Morgan and Reid donned vests, checked their weapons and headed out. Julie tried to wave goodbye to Reid as he and the others breezed past the balcony where she and the others stood, but he walked right by. JJ placed a comforting hand on Julie's shoulder. "He needs to focus right now." She told her gently.

Julie nodded. "We've never seen him go out to get an UnSub before… Like, with a vest and a gun… It's a little nerve-racking."

Alex nodded in agreement, staring at the agents' retreating backs as they stepped into the elevator. "He'll be okay. He may be young, but Spence is a good agent." JJ smiled reassuringly. "Now come on, I don't think I've been properly introduced to your mom yet."

Garcia watched as JJ more or less led Alex and Julie back into the round table room and something suddenly clicked in her mind. The three paused at the doorway when they realized she was not with them and turned back. "Garcia, what is it?" JJ asked when she saw the look on her friend's face.

"You know, you three seem awfully familiar with each other…" Garcia observed, her tone bordering on smug.

"Well, sure, she comes over a lot." Julie shrugged.

Garcia gasped and smiled as though she'd just hit the jackpot. "You're dating Reid!" She practically shouted.

Julie clasped her hands over her mouth, looking horrified. "I'm sorry! Was that supposed to be a secret?" She asked between her fingers.

"I believe it was." Alex informed her, clapping her on the shoulder.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Julie cried, looking frantically between JJ and Garcia.

"Julie, it's okay, it wasn't a secret. Stop laughing, Garcia! Let's just calm down for a minute!" JJ made her voice heard. "Yes, Reid and I are dating; no, it wasn't a secret. We just weren't… volunteering the information, and, Garcia, stop looking at me like that."

Garcia took her giddy smile down a few notches. "So, JJ, what's it like to date a genius? Is he an expert on _everything_?" She asked, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"O-kay, this is where I get off." Alex interjected, veering off into the round table room.

"Right behind you." Julie said, following Alex.

JJ glared at Garcia, a faint pink staining her cheeks. She generally considered herself unflappable, but there were certain things you didn't discuss in front of your boyfriend's younger siblings, in her opinion. Garcia didn't even seem to attempt regret; she only grinned deviously and headed into the round table room. "We're continuing this discussion later." She said as she passed JJ.

Shaking her head, JJ followed Garcia, wondering if there was any way she could escape a conversation about Reid's romantic prowess.

-/\-

JJ's heart leapt into her throat when she saw Reid walk through the door after Hotch and Morgan. They all looked exhausted and Reid was slightly singed. Despite her wish to run over and find out if he was alright, she controlled the urge and walked over as calmly as possible. She was quickly surpassed by Alex and Julie, who flanked their brother and bombarded him with questions. "Are you okay?" Alex asked.

"What happened?" Julie continued without giving Reid time to answer.

"Did you get Garner?" Alex asked next.

"Guys, give him room to breathe." JJ said as she came up behind him, though she desperately wanted answers to the questions, herself.

"I'm okay; there was a, uh… slight miscalculation on my part. We saved Rebecca, she's going to be alright." Reid told them all.

The three gathered around him let out relieved smiles, JJ's just a little bigger for the news of Rebecca. Julie shifted from foot to foot for a moment as if undecided about something before she lunged at Reid, startling him, and hugging him tightly. JJ saw him grimace, he was obviously sore from his 'slight miscalculation,' but he returned the over-zealous hug anyway. After a moment, Julie spoke. "You smell terrible." She mumbled, her voice slightly muffled.

They couldn't help but smile at that, though Reid looked rather put out. When Julie released him, JJ decided to ignore the fact that they were in the office, if only for a moment, and leaned forward to press a kiss to Reid's lips. Grinning, she wrinkled her nose. "You really do smell terrible." JJ informed him.

Reid rolled his eyes but smiled along with them.

-/\-

A/N: Well, that was part two. The next chapter deals a little with the aftermath and all that. A little more JJ/Reid fluff as well, just for good measure. Review if you'd like, I'd love to know what you think! Ooh, I'd also like to thank RockerChild1987 for the term 'mini-Reids.' I finally found a place to work it in!

Oh, and I know some of you were confused as far as Diana Reid not knowing about Spencer being in the FBI and this was how I saw it: In "Fisher King" she was shouting about being in a government office and Spencer insisted that he wasn't the government. Diana did, however, seem to know about his being in the FBI during "The Instincts" and "Memoriam" so I figured he probably told her about it sometime between those two episodes. It's something I'll address later, no worries.

Thank you very much to 92, clt, donttouch, RockerChild1987, twilightgirl00000001, Rasgara, cmwinner, Eriks angel 15, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, SlasherrGirl, criminalminds99, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, KASEY64, and CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ for your reviews and constructive criticism. You guys brought up some helpful stuff! Thank you, also, to those who have added this to their alerts and favorites.


	14. Return to Vegas

Family

A/N: Wow, I can't believe I've written 14 chapters already! Only… 26 chapters left. I guess I'd better get cracking. This chapter is kinda-sorta fluff, by the way. I didn't plan it that way, but that's what happened…

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, a jet, a diner, and so forth. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 14: Return to Vegas

Episode(s): The Fisher King I & II

"Now, _this_ is cool." Alex said, sitting back in one of the comfy chairs on the BAU's jet, "Let me know the next time there's a crisis so I can ride in this thing."

Julie giggled, sitting across from him, and watched JJ standing by the door onto the jet. Just outside, in front of the ramp that granted access to the plane, Spencer stood with his mother, attempting to coax her onto the jet. "Mom, I promise it's completely safe. I travel in this plane all the time."

Diana shook her head. "This is a _government_ plane. I am not trusting a government aircraft!" She said adamantly.

"I'm not the government, Mom, don't you trust me?" Spencer ignored the painful flash of guilt in his gut.

"Of course, Spencer, but… what's wrong with _driving_?"

"Flying is faster, Mom. Alex and Julie are on there and so is Jennifer. You remember her, right? I wrote to you about her." Hearing her name, JJ stepped forward and smiled reassuringly as Spencer continued. "And I'll be there the whole time. We'll keep you so busy, you won't even realize we're in the air."

Diana looked between Spencer and JJ at the entrance of the jet and sighed. "You're sure this is the way we have to get back to Las Vegas?" She asked, taking her son's outstretched hand.

Spencer smiled. "It will be over before you know it." He told her, leading her onto the plane.

Once inside, Diana sat down at one of the tables, buckled her seatbelt, and claimed she would not move until the 'flying deathtrap' was back on the ground. Spencer sat down next to her and Alex and Julie took seats across the table from them. JJ sat in a seat on the other side of the aisle and they all prepared for takeoff.

After it had been determined that Rebecca and Elle would be okay, Hotch and Gideon had gotten the director to give the team the rest of their vacation back. They had even managed to swing time off for JJ and Garcia. After that had come the talk Spencer and JJ had been dreading.

"_Considering all that's happened in the past few days, I hardly think your relationship is at the top of the list of things to worry about." Hotch said from across his desk. "But I have to address it. How long has this been going on?"_

"_About two months- a little after the case in Los Angeles." JJ answered._

_Hotch nodded pensively. "Obviously it hasn't come into the workplace thus far, but I think Gideon may already have known."_

"_He- ah, he's actually the one that set us up…" Spencer pointed out._

_For a moment, Hotch looked sorely tempted to roll his eyes. "Alright. Do I have your word you will continue in a professional manner?"_

_Both agents nodded and Hotch continued. "You two are good agents; I trust your judgment. Don't make me regret it."_

_Spencer and JJ had thanked him and hightailed it out of his office, ready to go home and changed out of day-old and, in Spencer's case, singed clothing._

All said, the discussion really hadn't been as bad as they'd anticipated. They'd even managed to make it out of the building without being harassed by Morgan and/or Garcia. After that, JJ had decided to tag along with Spencer when he took his mother back to Las Vegas to lend a hand when needed.

She had approached Spencer late last night to find what, exactly, his 'slight miscalculation' had involved. She had been very tempted to throttle him until she'd seen how shaken he was. Being set on fire and very nearly blown up, not necessarily in that order, seemed to have rather adverse effects on the young man. After she had helped him calm down and he had taken a shower and changed out of his singed clothing, she had told him of her intention to accompany him to Vegas. He protested at first, saying she should take time for herself, but she had insisted that she really wanted to help. Throughout the morning, before they headed for the airport, he kept glancing nervously at her, as though he expected her to suddenly realize how crazy the whole situation was and leave. However, she had stayed and returned his glances with reassuring smiles and he was now incredibly glad of her presence.

Takeoff went smoothly, thankfully, with little panic from Diana and though she was nervous, she seemed alright, which was a good sign. JJ smiled as she watched Spencer place a reassuring hand on Diana's arm and continue reading out of the book he had taken out earlier. _He'd make a good father…_ she thought, before almost laughing at the absurdity of the idea. They'd only been dating a couple of months, she shouldn't be thinking of things like that she told herself. Shrugging off the odd, somewhat disconcerting thought, she forced herself to concentrate as Alex and Julie sat down across from her and offered a game of cards. "So, are you guys as good at cards as Spence?" She asked as Alex dealt the cards.

The two siblings glanced at each other and grinned. "_No one_ is as good at cards as Spencer." Alex told her.

"I don't know…" JJ shrugged. "We beat him sometimes when we play after cases."

Still smiling, the two rearranged their hands. "Then he's letting you win." Alex told her bluntly. "He's gone into a casino in Vegas and walked out with a couple thousand dollars in one night."

JJ's eyebrows wend up. "So, Spence's been holding back on us, huh?" She glanced at him and he returned the look, though he never stopped reciting the story.

"If he didn't, I doubt any of you would want to play cards with him again." Alex said.

Julie nodded in agreement. "When I was six, we would play cards all the time and I thought I was the greatest because I could beat my 17-year-old genius brother. But when I found out he was letting me win…"

"You wanted to win on your own?" JJ asked, pulling two cards out of her hand.

"I _demanded_ that he play fair."

"And how did that go?"

"Oh, he crushed me at 'Go Fish'." Julie smiled at the memory. "I was _so_ mad at him."

JJ laughed and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Spencer was smiling too.

-/\-

Hours later, the group made it to Bennington to check Diana Reid in. The stress and lack of sleep from the past day or so had taken its toll on her, however, the same as it had the others. Over the course of the plane trip, the other passengers could tell she was becoming more detached from the situation. As they walked her up to her room, she addressed Spencer, Alex, Julie and JJ as students, rather than family or acquaintances.

JJ had been the one to suggest they grab an early dinner and Spencer had stopped at the diner he and his siblings always ate at when visiting their mother. The waitress greeted them warmly, recognizing the small family from when their visits had been more frequent. She introduced herself as Louise to JJ and winked in Spencer's direction when JJ had taken the seat next to him.

Dinner was almost silent, they all mostly just picked at what they had ordered, appetites stolen by stress and sleep-deprivation. When Louise had come by to pick up their half-eaten meals and ask if they wanted dessert, JJ had taken a look at the assorted downtrodden looks on her dining companion's faces and ordered the largest chocolate sundae on the menu. When it arrived, they all dug in. They all had faint smiles by the time their spoons hit the bottom of the bowl and didn't even mind Spencer explaining the mood-elevating effects of chocolate.

Now, back on the jet, the four relaxed and allowed the plane to carry them home without worry. Julie was curled up in one of the chairs, looking much younger than she was as she slept. Alex occupied another chair, sprawled out in a position that must have been more comfortable than it looked, since he was out cold and snoring softly. JJ laid on one end of the couch, sleeping lightly with her legs folded under her to make room for Spencer, who took up the other end of the sofa.

About two hours into the flight, Spencer became aware of a pair of eyes on him. He looked over to find that JJ was awake and staring at him. "JJ, I thought you were asleep." He said softly shutting the book he had been reading.

"And now I'm awake and wondering why _you're_ not asleep." JJ told him. "None of us slept at all last night and you're not sleeping now. You have to be tired, I don't think you've slept in days."

"I'm alright. I'll sleep when we get back." He told her.

She watched as he glanced in his sibling's direction before opening his book again. "They do know you're not invincible, Spence." She told him, sitting up.

Spencer looked up at her, startled. "I know. Why do you say that?"

JJ scooted over to him before speaking again. "You're exhausted and stressed. You can be upset if you want. _I_ would be if my family had been threatened by Garner. In fact, I called my parents last night just to talk to them. It's okay to let it get to you a little bit." She gently pried the book out of his hands. "Why don't you try and get some sleep?"

Spencer sighed, looking over at JJ. "How do you find time to take care of yourself and worry about the rest of us?" He asked with admiration in his voice.

"When you feel better, I feel better." She told him, giving him a quick kiss.

"Then I guess I can't really refuse sleep now, can I?" He asked with a small smile.

JJ smiled back and shook her head. "No, you can't."

After a few minutes, some shuffling and shifting around on the couch the two agents had worked themselves into a comfortable position, with Reid sandwiched between the back of the couch and JJ, with his arm draped around JJ's waist. Slightly cramped though they were, they fell asleep quickly and stayed that way for the remainder of the flight.

-/\-

A/N: Yup, fluffish. Next up: Elle's departure. Probably a bit of a short chapter; sorry. Drop me a line, if you'd care to do so; it would make me very happy!

Thank you very much to donttouch, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, clt, Nymphadora-CullenBAU, RockerChild1987, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, and criminalminds99 for your wonderful reviews and thank you to those who have put this on their favorites and alerts as well!


	15. Sketchy Conversation

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone. Well, Elle never really made it into this story, I guess. Sorry about that, Elle-fans. But this one deals with her leaving… Terribly sorry for the lack of length. I promise the next one will be longer. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 15: Sketchy Conversation

Episode(s): Aftermath/The Boogeyman

The bathroom door opened, briefly shedding light into the hallway before Alex hit the switch, effectively sending the room into darkness once more. However, as he walked back to his room, he noticed, as he had not on his way to the bathroom, that the hallway was not completely dark. Further inspection revealed the small source of light was coming from the living room. Poking his head through the doorway, Alex saw Spencer hunched over his desk, the only light in the room coming from his desk lamp. Alex ventured further into the room, pulled the chair from Julie's desk up and sat down. When Spencer didn't look up, Alex spoke. "Couldn't sleep?"

Spencer paused and dropped his pencil, shutting the book he had been leaning over. Sitting back in his desk chair, he sighed and looked over at Alex. "I could ask you the same question."

"Hey, I just had to go to the bathroom. I'm not the one up drawing at 1:30 in the morning."

Giving Alex a half-smile, Spencer shrugged. "Like I haven't caught you sitting up, late at night 'just putting the final touches' on a drawing."

Alex smirked, nodding. "Touché… So, what are you working on?"

Spencer reached over and flipped the sketchbook back open, revealing a sketch of a woman. It was darkly drawn, but well done. She was sitting down, her long hair falling around her shoulders, an odd smile on her face. "For someone with an eidetic memory, that's not a very good likeness." Alex said with a smirk.

In one quick motion, Spencer snapped the sketchbook shut and rapped Alex on the head with it before tossing it back down on the desk. "It's good enough for you to know who it was." He muttered, smirking.

Alex picked up the sketchbook and pencil, opened to a clean page, and began drawing. "She's been on your mind the past few days; who else would you be drawing?" When Spencer merely shrugged, Alex continued. "I really don't think you have anything to feel guilty about."

"It's my fault Garner fixated on the BAU in the first place." Spencer muttered ruefully. "_Then_ I have the opportunity to make up for that and all I can tell her is that 'she won.' I'm no help."

"Spencer, you help people every day." Alex didn't look up from his sketch.

"What good is that if I can't help my friends?"

"You can't help people who aren't willing to be helped."

"You can't help people if you suck at helping them!" Spencer snapped in frustration.

The room was silent for a short while; even Alex's scribbling had stilled. Finally, the silence broke with Spencer's heaved sigh and Alex spoke. "You don't suck at helping people. You're great at helping people. I mean… sometimes you do tend to put your foot in your mouth…" Spencer glared but his younger brother continued talking. "But at least you try. You _listen_ to people, and that's a lot of help right there. That's all people want some times. And, you always help Julie and me if you can."

"But you guys come to me with problems I'm more experienced with… I have some context…"

"Exactly." Alex had gone back to drawing. "You've never been shot. You couldn't possibly know the magic word that would make her feel better."

Spencer paused as he remembered Garner's raspy voice begging him to ask the question that would heal his wounds. Of course, Alex couldn't know the irony of what he had just said. And Elle hadn't asked him to heal her wounds; she had wanted them to stay because they justified her feelings. Even so, Spencer had wanted to help her. As if reading his thoughts, Alex spoke again. "I'm pretty sure I heard Gideon telling you once that you can't save everyone. I think you really have to learn to let things go."

Spencer attempted a glare at Alex, deciding the young man had spent entirely too much time around Gideon. "If you believed it was good to let things go, you wouldn't keep bringing up Taylor Campbell." He pointed out.

The agent was pleased to see Alex's embarrassed smile, though he didn't say a word. The boy pulled the pencil back from the paper, appraising his work, and then dropped the sketchbook on the desk. "How's that?" He asked.

Looking up from the paper was someone that could've passed for a very sketchy copy of Elle. "Show off." Spencer mumbled with a smile showing through, despite his words.

Alex grinned and stood up. "I'm going back to bed." He yawned as if to punctuate the statement and headed out of the room.

Spencer sat for a while longer, how long he wasn't sure, before he stood up, turned off the light, and left the room. He thought of Elle's picture in the dark and hoped that if he was ever in trouble, he would find the strength to ask for help.

-/\-

A/N: And there it is. Next one will have a flashback involving little Spencer and Alex. Should be fun; see you all soon!

Also, a big, warm thank you to clt, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, Eriks angel 15, donttouch, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, KASEY64, criminalminds99, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, and RockerChild1987 for you wonderful reviews and to all those who put this on their alerts and favorites. Since school has started, you guys offer a wonderful pick-me-up and ridiculous amounts of AP homework!


	16. Superheroes in the Dark

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! I'll be honest, this is my favorite chapter so far. It's mainly dedicated to a memory of why Spencer is afraid of the dark. I hope you guys enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or superheroes. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 16: Superheroes in the Dark

Episode: The Boogeyman (Halloween)

"If you don't hold still, you're going to end up with fake blood in your eye."

"You know, if I didn't know what you two were doing, that would sound very strange." Alex said, looking over at his two siblings.

Spencer paused, q-tip covered in fake blood poised just above Julie's left eyebrow, and chuckled. "That is a little odd, isn't it?"

Julie grinned and shook her head slightly. "Hey, hold still!" Spencer reminded her, and she snapped back to attention.

Carefully, Spencer dabbed the red gel along the top of Julie's brow and allowed it to drip down the side of her face. Shivering, Julie raised her hand to scratch at the sticky liquid. "That itches." She complained as Spencer gently pushed her hand away.

"Don't touch it. It will feel better when it dries." Spencer told her, then handed her a tube of lipstick. "Here, put this on and you'll be done."

Julie took the tube and left her spot at the kitchen table for the bathroom. She returned a few moments later, fully made up in her Halloween costume. She wore a long black dress that resembled a gothic version of a medieval gown and pair of low-heeled, black boots. She was pale and her eyes were hooded with black and grey eye shadow and eyeliner. Fake blood trickled down from a fake cut above her eyebrow and from the corner of her mouth, which was now painted with black lipstick. A plastic, silver tiara sat in her nest of mussed brown hair. She was the self-proclaimed Queen of the Dead. "How do I look?" She asked in an exaggerated, deep voice.

"Nice. Very spooky." Alex assured her with a thumbs-up.

"It's great, Spencer!" Julie smiled enthusiastically before a pensive look crossed her face. "But why is it that guys can do Halloween makeup, but not regular makeup?"

"Because we don't wear makeup." Alex said.

"But there are male makeup artists, as well as males who wear makeup regularly such as Goths and transvestites…" Spencer stopped mid-ramble when he saw the look Alex was giving him. "But, uh… I'm pretty sure I would be useless for anything but a Halloween makeover."

Julie giggled and moved to grab her trick-or-treat bag. "Ready to go?" Spencer asked, standing up and grabbing his keys.

"For my last year of trick-or-treating? Never." Julie smiled anyway and headed out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Alex, the candy is on the counter over there, can you take care of the trick-or-treaters until I get back and into my costume?" Spencer asked, turning his excited smile on his younger brother.

"Sure." Alex nodded, waiting until Spencer had left the room before snagging a piece of candy from the bowl.

Smiling and shaking his head, Alex glanced out the window and watched small children run through the streets with their parents in tow, getting an early start on the trick-or-treating. He saw Spencer and Julie come out of the building and head to the car so Spencer could drop Julie off and her friend's house for the party and her last year of trick-or-treating. Then Spencer would return, put on a costume and hand out candy to delighted kids and amused parents.

Alex didn't share is brother's enthusiasm for the holiday. Certainly, it had been fun when he was younger, but now that he was older, Halloween was merely a time for scary movies and candy. Still, he admired that the holiday still held the same whimsy for Spencer as it always had, despite his fear of the dark. Alex could still remember the day that fear had come into being.

_-Early October, 1993_

_Alex sat on the steps leading up the his house, shivering slightly in the fall breeze that ruffled his short, dirty-blonde hair. Worry was evident on his easily read 7-year-old features. His mother was inside, in bed, either reading or sleeping; it had been a while since he'd checked. 10-month-old Julie had been asleep when Alex had left the house, and since he hadn't heard any crying, he assumed she still was. Mrs. McNabb, from next door, had been over shortly after he'd come home from school to make sure things were all right, but she was gone now._

_The reason Alex sat outside, anxiety pouring off his little body, was because it was past 5 PM and Spencer wasn't home. This was very bad because Spencer was never late. Not ever._

_The cloudless October sky was beginning to change color, signaling that within another hour, twilight would be upon them. Finally, after running back inside to check on his mother and sister and finding them both asleep, Alex decided he would go out in search of Spencer. After all, if Spencer was late then he had to be in trouble. He always came home by 4:15. Sometimes he came home with cuts and scrapes and bruises, which he told Alex were battle wounds. Alex didn't know what battles Spencer had been fighting today, but if he wasn't home… perhaps he had _lost_._

_More determined than ever to find his brother, he decided he would go to the high school and find out if anyone had seen Spencer. The only problem was, he didn't know exactly where the high school was… _Oh, well_, Alex thought with a shrug. He knew it was in the direction of his elementary school; he supposed he would just start walking and the rest would work itself out._

_He walked the two blocks to his elementary school and saw no sign of Spencer, so he kept walking in the direction he would watch Spencer go every morning. Another block and still there was no Spencer and nothing that looked as though it could have been a high school. He began calling out; perhaps Spencer would come to him. As he walked past one house with a woman out front, rooting around in her garden, she looked up when he shouted Spencer's name. "Excuse me, are you lost?" She called out to him, making him pause._

"_No, I'm looking for Spencer." Alex told her._

"_Is Spencer your dog?" The woman asked._

"_No, Spencer's my _brother_." Alex said, as though it were obvious._

"_You lost your _brother_?" Worry crossed the woman's face._

"I _didn't lose him. But don't worry, I'm going find him." Alex assured her, before walking away and leaving the bewildered woman behind._

_Soon, he came to a street of homes undergoing renovation. The lack of activity and people spooked Alex, but he took a deep breath and walked on; Spencer would come for him if _he_ were in trouble, so he had to do the same for Spencer. However, the further down the street he walked, shouting his brother's name and listening to the shrill echo, the more discouraged he became. But just as he was beginning to wonder if perhaps Spencer had come home while he was out looking and thinking that maybe he should be going home now, he heard it. A faint shout, but a definite call of 'help.' "Spencer?" He hollered again._

_Clearer this time, the cry for help came. Alex turned and ran towards the source of the voice, straining to hear. Finally, he found it; a shed by one of the old houses. "_Spencer?_" He shouted at the shed._

"Alex!_" Spencer's voice came through the walls. "Alex, unblock the door!"_

_There was a heavy branch wedged against the door, it showed signs of bending but wasn't about to break. Alex gripped the branch and shoved with all his might, ignoring the splinters it left in his palm. He moved to open the door and Spencer came barreling out and held onto Alex for dear life. A sob escaped his lips and soon the 12-year-old's thin body was wracked with sobs. Alex began to cry too, for whatever had made his invincible big brother cry must have been terrible indeed._

_Soon, Spencer managed to calm himself and, subsequently, Alex. Catching a look at his brother for the first time was almost enough to make Alex start crying again, though. His right eye was puffy and dark, his lip was split and a little of the dried blood was still on his chin. His hands were bruised and cut from pounding on the shed door. "I'm okay." Spencer assured him, before gingerly taking his younger brother's hand and leading him home._

_That night, Spencer had fallen asleep at the end of Alex's bed, enjoying the nightlight plugged into the wall. Every night thereafter, the hall light had been left on and Spencer had never wanted to be alone in the dark._

Alex pulled himself out of the memory as the front door opened and Spencer came in. "Hey. Did we get any trick-or-treaters while I was gone?" He asked.

"A few." Alex nodded.

"Great! I'm going to go put on my costume." Spencer dropped his keys on the entryway table, hung his coat, and headed for his room.

"So what is this mysterious costume, anyway?" Alex called after his brother.

"You'll see." Spencer said before he shut his door.

Alex shook his head and allowed his thoughts to drift back to that memory. He had been confused for a while after that incident; he had always thought of Spencer as a superhero until that point. But superheroes didn't cry, did they? Superheroes weren't afraid of the dark. After a while, though, he realized Spencer was better than a super hero. He was a child whose father had left him to take care of a sick mother and his two young siblings. He was just a little boy who accomplished things people twice his age couldn't do. He took the 'battles' with his schoolmates, the bruises, the fears, all the obstacles in stride. He overcame them and that was what made him a superhero.

"There weren't a lot of costumes when I got to the store, so it was either this one or an inaccurate 18th century costume…" Spencer was saying as he came out of his room.

Alex looked upcouldn't help but laugh. Spencer blushed. "It's not _that_ bad."

"No…" Alex said, catching his breath. He took in the super hero costume his brother wore and took a deep breath to keep from laughing again. "It's… appropriate, I think."

-/\-

A/N: I really like how that one came out. I originally was going to have Reid dress up as a werewolf or something, but Spence in tights was too good to pass up. Plus, he always reminded me of Clark Kent for some reason in the beginning of season two, with the glasses and the hair… Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed!

Oh, by the way, if any of you were wondering which episodes will get chapters in this story, there is a list on my profile page.

Big thank you to criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, criminalminds99, morgo7kc, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, clt, Eriks angel 15, RockerChild1987 and CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ for your wonderful reviews and to everyone who has added this to their updates and favorites! You guys are completely and totally awesome!


	17. Emily Profiles the Reids

Family

A/N: Hey, guys! It is time I introduced Emily to Reid's little family. Woot. Hope you enjoy, sorry it's a bit short.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 17: Emily Profiles The Reids

Episodes: The Last Word/Lessons Learned

Emily Prentiss leaned back in her new desk chair, stretched, and glanced at the time. Technically, she could go home if she wanted. Agent Hotchner, or Hotch, had already left, and he was a notorious workaholic. However, she wanted to finish the paperwork from her first case while it was still fresh in her brain. And, of course, there was the added bonus of being branded a quick worker. She had never been one to suck up, but a few extra brownie points with bosses who did not seem to believe she belonged there certainly wouldn't hurt.

Dr. Reid, as he was usually introduced, had finished his paperwork a while ago. _Of course he did, _Emily thought. She had done her research on the members of the team. The skinny, unassuming 25-year-old agent was actually a genius with a ridiculously quick reading speed. However, instead of packing up and leaving the building when he'd finished, he had headed for Agent Jareau's, JJ's, office. Emily was beginning to wonder exactly what those two were doing up there when two people came walking into the bullpen.

The taller and older of the two could barely have been called a man yet, he was probably in his late teens, 20 at the oldest. The girl was in her early teens. The young man had dirty-blonde hair and carried himself with ease; he had obviously been here before. The girl, with honey-brown hair that went midway down her back, walked with some trepidation, though she seemed more at ease when she reached the bullpen. They had the same eyes, though the young man's were a shade lighter, and they resembled each other enough to believe they were related… the eyes struck Emily as oddly familiar. Shaking herself out of profiling mode, Emily cleared her throat in an attention-claiming manner. She may be new here, but she could certainly handle helping out a few visitors. "Can I help you?" She asked in a polite but firm voice.

The girl looked over at her but did not speak, she left that to her, Emily assumed, older brother. "We're just looking for Spe- uh, Dr. Reid. Have you seen him?"

_Spencer_; they were familiar with Reid… probably family. "Sorry, not for a while. The last I saw he was up in Agent Jareau's office." Emily gestured towards JJ's office.

"Typical." The young man rolled his eyes and smiled. "Thinking of his girlfriend before his own family."

Emily's eyes widened slightly as the girl elbowed the young man in the side. "_Alex_!" She hissed.

"What?" The boy who was evidently named Alex shrugged. "Everyone else knows; she would've found out eventually."

They stood in silence for a moment before Alex stepped up to Emily's desk. "You must be Emily… Prentiss, right?" He asked.

Emily nodded. "Yes. And you are…?"

"Alexander Reid, but Alex is fine." He shook Emily's hand and then turned and pointed to the girl who was still standing by Reid's desk. "That's Juliet."

"Julie." The girl said with a wave.

"And you're Reid's brother and sister?"

"Did you profile that or did Spencer tell you?" Alex asked with a grin.

Emily smiled back. "You're way too old to be his kids, after that the most likely thing was siblings."

Before anyone had a chance to say anything further, Reid came back down into the bullpen, followed by JJ. "Guys, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here. Let me get my things and we can go." Reid told them, rushing to his desk to gather his messenger bag, go-bag, and coat.

"No hurry," Alex told him, watching in amusement as Reid shuffled folders around on his desk. "We, your humble chauffeurs, await."

Reid finally straightened up and glanced from Alex to Julie. "She's a little young to be a chauffeur." He gestured to his little sister.

"She's the navigator." Alex said and Julie nodded enthusiastically.

Reid looked uncertain but nodded slowly. Emily noticed JJ's small smile as she watched the interaction. When the three siblings headed for the elevators, JJ began to follow. Before they left the bullpen, however, Reid paused and turned back to Emily. "I'll, um, see you tomorrow, Agent Prentiss." He said uncertainly.

Emily nodded, a little bit touched by his gesture. "Tomorrow, Dr. Reid. And you can drop the 'Agent'." She told him.

He smiled a little, nodding in return. "Then you can probably drop the 'Doctor'."

"It was nice meeting you, Emily." Alex called out with a cheeky grin, dodging Reid's weak glare.

Julie waved and Emily smiled and waved back as the four people walked out of the bullpen and out of sight. After a few moments, JJ returned alone, her slight smile still in place. She paused in the bullpen, appearing lost in thought. "So, Reid seems nice." Emily said nonchalantly.

JJ nodded. "Yeah, he is. He's a good profiler and good to work with."

Emily grinned. "He's pretty cute, too." She said, watching with amusement as surprise- and a tiny hint of jealousy, maybe?- flashed across the younger woman's face.

Regaining her professional demeanor once more, JJ shrugged. "Yeah, I guess he is."

After a moment, Emily moved in for the kill. "So how long have you two been dating?"

Disbelief settled on JJ's features as she shook her head. "A few months. I would also like to point out that I hate profilers." There was no conviction behind her assertion, being as there was a small smile on her lips as she headed back up to her office.

Emily laughed quietly as she watched the liaison go. Sure, she could say that Alex had spilled the beans, but she was of the belief that a little mystery was always a good thing.

-/\-

A/N: Sorry, once again, for the shortness. The next few chapters are going to be pretty short, but we're coming up on the "Revelations" chapter soon, so that should be longer. Hope you enjoyed, review, if you want, that would be really cool!

Speaking of which, here are some really cool people who reviewed last time: clt, donttouch, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, Eriks angel 15, criminalminds99, morgo7kc, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, xXxFailing-DreamsxXx, KASEY64, Daisyangel, RockerChild1987, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, and Red K 5. You guys are awesome, as are the people who added this to their alerts and favorites!


	18. Popcorn Does Not Make a Good Projectile

Family

A/N: Hello again! I'm afraid this chapter is rather short again and a little goofy, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Glad to hear you're all excited about Revelations, by the way. There's… three more chapters to go, counting this one. Hope it doesn't disappoint!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or popcorn. In fact, I don't think I even have any popcorn… Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 18: Popcorn Does Not Make a Good Projectile

Episode: Sex, Birth, and Death

Alex glanced up at the clock when he heard the front door unlocking. It wasn't even ten yet. Garcia had called maybe an hour ago saying she was forcing Spencer to have a fun night out. Perhaps it hadn't gone as planned… Alex became sure of that fact when he heard JJ speaking in soothing, hushed tones. "Come on, Spence. You're home now and you can change out of those clothes and relax, okay?"

Spencer's answer came after a moment of hesitation. "Okay, thank you."

Standing up, Alex ventured out into the hallway to find out what was going on. "Is everything okay? What hap…" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Spencer standing in the hallway, bloody and looking dead on his feet. "Oh, my…"

"Everything's okay, Spence isn't hurt." JJ quickly reassured Alex. "He can tell you everything later, but right now he's going to take a shower and throw away those clothes, right?"

Spencer looked alarmed for a moment. "Throw them away?"

"I don't think those are salvageable, Spence." JJ told him gently, gesturing to his blood-stained outfit.

Looking down at his clothes, Spencer came to the realization that he wouldn't ever be able to wear these clothes again. Even if he could have gotten them clean, they would be forever stained in his mind, his eidetic memory preserving the dark stains clear as day on his sweater vest and pants. "Right." He nodded.

He went to his room to gather some clean, comfortable clothing and then to the bathroom. He placed the clean clothes on top of the toilet and practically phased out of the bloody clothes, trying to remove them with as little contact as possible. He shoved the offending articles in the bathroom's trash can, knotted the bag shut, and tossed it in the corner. He proceeded to turn the water on in the shower as hot as he could stand it and got in. He scrubbed at his skin until it felt raw and then once more for good measure. When he finally felt as though the blood was gone, though in reality it had been gone from his skin before he had gotten into the shower, he shut off the water and got out.

When Spencer finally came out of the bathroom, clad in his favorite pair of despairing flannel pajama pants and a college t-shirt, he found Alex, Julie and JJ sitting around the living room. They were also wearing pajamas, even JJ, who had gotten them out of her go-bag which had been in her car. Spencer eyed the three of them warily as he went into the kitchen to shove the bag full of clothes into the kitchen garbage and then came back into the living room. "We're… having a pajama party now?" He asked uncertainly.

"Close." Julie answered as she flipped through the movies they could order through cable.

"We're having a movie night." JJ told him, patting the couch beside her.

"Oh… that's really nice, guys, but…" Spencer started to say.

"Oh, no, don't try to weasel out of this." Alex said.

"We're cheering you up whether you like it or not." Julie added.

Spencer paused for a moment, debating whether or not it would be worth it to argue, and then gave the group before him a minute smile. "Okay." He wasn't sure he wanted to be alone, anyway.

He sat down on the couch and took a kernel of popcorn from the bowl JJ offered him, taking in her outfit. She wore black pajama pants that went down past her feet and looked incredibly soft, and a pink tank top. Shaking off the idea that he would like to feel for himself just how soft those pants were, he smiled a little at her. "I like your pajamas." He said shyly.

JJ smiled at him. "Yours look… comfortable." She finally said, causing him to blush.

"Not as stylish as yours, but I think they work for me…" He said quietly.

There was a bit of an awkward silence as they looked at each other, trying to decide where to go from discussing pajamas. "Would you two like to be alone?" Alex asked slyly, breaking the silence.

Spencer scowled at him and Alex flashed a bright smile. Though Spencer managed to resist the urge to stick his tongue out at the young man, he did take a kernel of popcorn and lob it at him. However, due to his notoriously poor aim and his lack of depth perception, compounded by the fact that popcorn made a sorry projectile, the snack missed its mark. Instead of hitting Alex, it flew all of two feet… and landed down the front of JJ's shirt.

Everyone froze. The shocked look on JJ's face was almost as good as the look of pure horror on Spencer's face. "JJ, I am _so_ sorry. I…" Spencer trailed off when JJ held up a hand to stop him.

Carefully, she shook the kernel out of her tank top, then, with resignation, picked up a handful of popcorn and turned to Spencer. "JJ…" Before he could say anything more, JJ had pulled back the collar of his t-shirt and dropped the corn down it in one swift motion.

Spencer yelped in surprise and jumped off the couch, attempting to shake the errant popcorn out of his shirt. He glared, blushing, as everyone else dissolved into laughter. His irritation was short-lived, however, and he soon joined them. The atmosphere was considerably lighter after that and they picked a mindless comedy to start their night as they munched on the popcorn that had not been down anyone's shirt, laughing and tuning out Spencer's assertion that what was happening in the movie was not only ridiculous, but illegal.

Spencer decided it was amazing how much the mood had been lightened by his ill-aimed snack… but it was even more amazing how uncomfortable it was to have a handful of popcorn shoved down your shirt.

-/\-

A/N: Yes, short once again, I'm sorry. I hope you guys enjoyed, anyway. I would like to point out that it's been a while since I've seen "Sex, Birth and Death" and I don't remember whether Reid had blood on his clothes or not… it seemed logical that there would be and I _do_ like being dramatic… Also, it really is uncomfortable to get a handful of popcorn down your shirt. Review if you want, I would certainly appreciate it!

As ever, thank you very much to the following awesome folks who reviewed: CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, clt, criminalminds99, Eriks angel 15, rinswan, donttouch, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, the overcomer, SlasherrGirl, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, RockerChild1987, and criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak. You guys all deserve some form of reward… sadly the best I can offer is digital baked goods. Thank you, also, to those who put this on their alerts and favorites!


	19. Morgan the Sage

Family

A/N: Hello all! Not really much to say, but this one is a bit of fun with Morgan and Julie… enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or a car. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

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Chapter 19: Morgan the Sage

Episode: Profiler, Profiled

Morgan looked up from his desk when Alex and Julie came into the bullpen. He flashed them his award-winning grin, glad of their distracting presence. He had met the two mini-Reids, as Garcia liked to call them, after the Fisher King case and several times since and he had taken a liking to them. Alex was more confident than his older brother, but had a similar gentle demeanor. Julie was every inch Reid's little sister; shy, quiet, but happy to talk once she got to know you. Though neither was a genius, a fact Reid had once told Morgan he was glad of for their sakes, they were both intelligent in their own right.

Pushing his paperwork aside, as he wasn't making much progress anyway, he turned to the entrance of the bullpen where they stood. "Hey, Reid, you ride is here." He said, gesturing towards the two.

Reid looked up from his last folder and then at the clock. "I hadn't realized how late it was getting." He said with surprise. "Let me finish this up, and I'll go get JJ."

"No need, I was coming to get you. Oh, hey, Alex, you're just what I need." JJ said, coming down from her office.

"Well it's about time you realized it." Alex said with a joking smile.

JJ laughed. "No, I think I'll stick with the original Reid, but thanks."

"Ouch!" Alex laughed, feigning injury as Reid blushed.

"Actually, what I need is two strong guys to help me move some stuff around my office." JJ said with a sweet smile.

Reid stood up and Alex moved to follow when Morgan spoke. "Hey, now, what do I look like, chopped liver?" He asked.

JJ smiled and linked arms with Reid. "Sorry, Morgan, but what kind of girlfriend would I be if I picked you over him?"

"A smart one." Morgan waggled his eyebrows at the blonde.

"Oh, ha ha ha." Reid interjected sarcastically. "Actually, did you know that term originated because chopped liver was usually served as a side dish and not a main course…"

Morgan chuckled as Reid launched into an explanation and headed up to JJ's office, the other two following and rolling their eyes. Morgan always found himself marveling at the drastic change Reid and JJ made off the clock. On the job, they were completely professional; for anyone to suggest they were more than coworkers would seem absurd. After hours, they could be the epitome of 'cute couple' if they wanted to. Shaking his head, Morgan watched as JJ instructed Reid and Alex on where to put things. "You know, that girl has your brothers wrapped around her finger." He commented to Julie, who was sitting at her brother's vacated desk.

"That's not hard to do." Julie said with a grin.

"Sure, not for two pretty ladies like you and JJ." Morgan winked.

Julie blushed, twirling her hair around her fingers, and Morgan chuckled. It was all harmless, of course, but Morgan wouldn't dare say anything like that around Reid. Reid knew it was harmless as well, but that wouldn't stop him from stepping into the protective older brother role. It seemed like a role that wouldn't fit him well, but Morgan had seen him in it once and, to be honest, it was almost scary. He had raised Alex and Julie, of course he wanted to protect them. Morgan felt the same about his own siblings.

Morgan sighed to think of Reid's childhood; it made him think of the case they had just solved and, subsequently, his own childhood. Two different childhoods ripped away for two different reasons by people that should have been trusted. "What's wrong?" Julie's voice broke into his muddle of thoughts.

"Nothing, Kiddo. What makes you ask?" Morgan turned his attention back to the girl.

"You look… preoccupied." She observed.

Morgan gave a short laugh. "You could say that."

It was silent for a time before Julie spoke again. "Spencer said the last case was really hard. He didn't say what it was about though."

Looking over at the young girl, Morgan was suddenly compelled to give her advice. He didn't usually put himself in the role of the sage on purpose, but he felt it was called for. "You know, you shouldn't always be so busy with this horror we deal with." He said seriously.

"I'm not 'busy with horror'… I just want to know what's happening. I want to know _why_ I can't see my brother every day." She paused. "It's not really the cases I'm interested in, I just… I know he's in danger when he walks out the door and I want to know how much. I hate being in the dark."

Morgan gave her a small smile. "In a hurry to learn about the world?"

"Not exactly. But you know, this whole time Spencer's been taking care of Alex and me, do you think's been taking care of him?" She asked wryly. "We need to have some idea of what we're dealing with."

Giving a small laugh, the two settled into a short silence. "It looks like they're almost done up there. Where are you four headed after this?" Morgan asked.

"A movie. Spencer has a sort of hang up about doing things together." Julie explained.

"Don't be too quick to pull away from your family. You never know when you're not going to have time to do these things again." Morgan almost took his words back for how serious they sounded, but he let them rest.

"I know." Julie nodded, watching as Reid, JJ and Alex came out of the office. "Spencer taught me that."

"I taught you what?" Reid asked as he came back into the bullpen.

"That… you should include others," Before Reid had time to ask exactly how he had taught her that, she pressed on. "Do you think Morgan wants to come to the movies too?"

"Uh… well, Morgan's right there, you could ask _him_." Reid reminded her.

"Nah, I don't wanna crash your movie night…" Morgan began, a little taken aback.

"No, you wouldn't be… if you, uh, wanted to come…" Reid stuttered, slightly embarrassed.

When neither man said anything more, JJ suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and stepped forward to play mediator. "Morgan, it would be fine if you wanted to join us. We'd invite Prentiss and Garcia if they were still here."

After a moment's hesitation, Morgan nodded. "Sure, thanks. Do you mind if I hitch a lift with you? My car's in the shop."

"Sure, no problem." Reid nodded. "Alex, can I have the keys?"

Alex seemed to be thinking it over for a moment before he shook his head. "Nah."

"Alex, I'm driving whether you give me the keys or not." Reid said with no room for argument as he began to head for the elevator with everyone else in tow.

"Oh, and how are you going to do that without starting it?" Alex jogged to catch up, jingling the keys by Reid's ear.

"I know how to hotwire it." Reid told him.

While JJ and Morgan seemed surprised by this admission, Alex scoffed. "Sure, theoretically."

"I did it once, I can do it again." Reid replied firmly.

"Well… I'm still driving because I have the keys." Alex abandoned the argument.

As they stepped into the elevator, Morgan spoke up. "_I_ could drive." He suggested with a grin.

Reid's protest could be heard just before the elevator doors closed. "Morgan, it's _my_ car!"

-/\-

A/N: Ah, poor Reid; can't even drive his own car. I doubt he'd let Morgan drive in any case… and according to the internet, Reid's explanation of chopped liver is correct. Hope you enjoyed. I know it may have seemed a little pointless, but I really wanted to give Julie a little development as well, since Alex has been getting all the good parts. Next time: No Way Out (1)!

Ooh, and a huge, wonderful thank you to clt, donttouch, criminalminds99, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, SlasherrGirl, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, Eriks angel 15, morgo7kc, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, and RockerChild1987! When I started this story I was only aiming for 100 reviews and I have officially reached the 200 mark! You guys rock! Thank you very much to everyone who has added this to their alerts and favorites as well! Okay, enough exclamation points, I'm done.


	20. Bones to Pick

Family

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A/N: Hello, everyone! Welcome to chapter 20. I apologize for the length. It's important, but short. For any lack of sense-making, I apologize again. I'm really not feeling good whilst I try to correct the mistakes…

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 20: Bones to Pick

Episode: No Way Out (I)

At the sound of the doorbell, Alex came out of his room. His being the closest to the front door, he was in the best position to answer. He looked through the peephole, a habit Spencer had drilled into his head, and saw Gideon standing on the other side. He slid the chain out of place and opened the door. "Hello, Gideon." He said, stepping aside to let the man in.

"Alex," Gideon nodded in greeting. "I need to talk to Spencer."

To Gideon's amusement, Alex shouted Spencer's name and waited for the eldest Reid sibling to come out of the living room. "Gideon, what are you doing here?" Spencer asked in surprise.

"I need those files I gave you yesterday. Do you have them?"

"Uh- yeah. Just give me a minute, I have to print some things." Spencer nodded and disappeared back into the living room, where the printer was located.

Alex leaned up against the wall and regarded Gideon carefully, who seemed content to wait for Spencer in the hallway. "Spencer told us about the case you guys just came back from," Alex started, "But he has a gift for understatement, especially around Julie and me. How bad was it, really?"

Gideon only shook his head. "Bad. It's probably best that Spencer left most of the details out. You shouldn't have to deal with those facts… _we_ don't even want to deal with those facts sometimes."

Nodding, Alex continued. "You took this one kind of personally, didn't you?"

Gideon was silent for a moment before he smiled slightly. "You and Spencer are a lot alike. You see more than people realize. He sometimes just makes observations out of the blue. No one knows how he came to the conclusion, but he's usually right."

Alex nodded again. "I'm really not sure how he does it either, actually. Julie and me are still working on that one. But you didn't answer my question."

"You don't allow anything to get past you, either," Gideon noted wryly. "…We all have cases that hit us harder than others."

"Like that one case… Nathan Harris. Right? Spencer took that one pretty personally." Alex watched as Gideon nodded and then continued. "You know he checked up on that kid for a while after he was admitted to a sanitarium?"

Gideon shook his head again. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah… you say we're a lot alike, but you two are really alike in that way. Once he gets a hold of something like that, he refuses to let it go until it's resolved. Kind of a dog with a bone."

"I've talked to him about that," Gideon told him with a wan smile. "I've told him that it will tear him apart if he takes the cases so personally. He still needs to learn to let things go."

"You should do the same." Alex said seriously as Spencer came back into the room.

"Sorry it took longer than I thought. The printer was giving me trouble and I'm not as technically inclined as Garcia…" He said with a small smile as he handed some folders and a few sheets of paper to Gideon.

"It's no problem." Gideon assured him. "Alex and I had an interesting chat. See you on Monday."

With that, the older profiler headed out the front door and Spencer replaced the chain when he was gone. "What did you two talk about?" He asked Alex before his brother could return to his room.

Alex shrugged. "Bones."

He went into his room and shut the door behind himself, leaving Spencer somewhat bewildered.

-/\-

A/N: Wow, that was a lot shorter than I thought it would be… Well, I'll make up for it next time, because it's Revelations! I'm kinda nervous… Anyway review would be wonderful if you feel like it- I'll bet it would totally make me feel better. (If it sounds like I'm trying to guilt you into reviewing this crappy chapter, that is soooo not what's going on *cough-cough*).

Anywho, thank you so much to donttouch, criminalminds99, SlasherrGirl, cmwinner, juniper294, 92, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, RockerChild1987, clt, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, and Red K 7 for your wonderful reviews and to all those who have put this on their alerts and favorites!


	21. Tearful Reunions

Family

-/\-

A/N: Hello, all. The time has come for the angst that is Revelations. The next three or four chapters will be kind of angsty, but then there'll be a bit of fluff to follow. I've never written anything to do with Revelations, so… yeah. I'm really nervous, but… Enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 21: Tearful Reunions

Episode(s): The Big Game/Revelations

This was a disaster. A complete and utter _disaster_. JJ could think of nothing worse than what was happening now. Reid- her _Spence_- had been kidnapped by an UnSub who was periodically allowing them to watch their friend and colleague be tortured. Never in her most horrifying dreams had JJ even considered this scenario and she found that she was at a complete loss for what to do. She refused to even think about what she would have to tell his mother if he didn't make it through this; or, for that matter, Alex and Julie. Suddenly, something occurred to her and she jumped up and looked frantically around the small house for Gideon. She found him sitting at a table in the next room, staring Henkle's diary. "Gideon, did you call Alex or Julie?"

Gideon looked somewhat surprised as he shook his head. "It didn't occur to me… do you really think they need to hear this now though?" He asked quietly. "We _will_ get him back, and we can call them when we do."

JJ shook her head. "He makes time to call them every day. They're going to wonder what happened. I know it's not protocol, but… they deserve to know."

Nodding, Gideon considered it for a moment. "Alright. I'll call them."

"Let me do it." JJ said, placing a hand of Gideon's arm as he moved to reach into his pocket for his phone. "They're more familiar with me."

The older agent nodded, seeming to understand that it would do her as much good to hear their voices as it would them to hear hers.

JJ grabbed her phone and went outside to sit on the steps of the house. There was a better signal outside and it would afford her a little privacy; her teammates were inside and the local officers were a ways away from where she sat. She punched in the familiar number and waited for someone to pick up on the other end. "_Hello?_" Finally, Julie's sleepy voice came over the speaker and JJ absently wondered what time it was in Virginia. Or, for that matter, what time it was _here_.

"Julie?"

"_JJ? Why're you calling? Aren't you on a case with Spencer?_"

"Julie, listen to me. Is Alex there?"

"_Yeah, he's here. What's wrong? You sound upset._"

"Put the phone on speaker, I need to talk to you both."

JJ heard Julie talking to Alex in the background and then the phone when on speaker. "_JJ, what's wrong? Is Spencer okay?_" Alex's voice came over the phone.

Taking a deep breath, JJ tried to explain what she could. "I…" She paused to clear her throat. "I can't give you guys the details, but… Spence…" Suddenly, JJ's voice gave out. She didn't want to do this! Why had she offered to do this?

"_JJ, are you there? What happened to Spencer?_" Alex's panicked voice brought her back to reality.

She remembered now. She had offered to this because they were Reid's siblings, the ones who had depended on him almost all their lives; they ought to hear it from a friend. And that's what JJ was; over the months- they were approaching on a year now, JJ remembered with a pang- she and Reid had been dating, she had become great friends with his brother and sister. Clearing her throat again, JJ began to tell them what she knew they needed to hear. "Spence was kidnapped… by an UnSub." She heard the gasps followed by horrified silence on the other end. "We're working on getting him back and we know he's alive." When nothing was said, JJ continued. "We _will_ get him back, do you understand?" By this point, she was talking to herself as much as she was to them.

Finally, a voice came over the phone; it was Julie's. "_Okay, JJ. Make sure it happens._" JJ knew there was more they wanted to say, questions they wanted to ask, but they didn't seem able.

She wished there was something reassuring she could tell them, but there was only one thing to say at a time like this. "I will. We'll bring him home. I promise."

With nothing left to say, both parties hung up and JJ stood up to return to the team, more determined than ever.

-/\-

Gideon stood outside Reid's hospital room, watching JJ as she sat by Reid's bed. The young man had finally fallen into a heavy sleep and it looked like JJ wasn't far behind. Her eyes were locked steadfastly onto Reid's bruised face, but the lids were drooping.

He watched the pair for a moment longer before he moved away from the door and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He clicked through his contact list until he came to the one he was searching for. As expected, someone picked up after the first two rings. "_Hello? Gideon?_" It was Alex.

"We've got him. He's alright." The agent said without preamble.

He could hear Alex's excited voice in the background followed by what must have been Julie's cry of relief. Then the background noise became clearer and Gideon knew he'd been put on speaker. "_Gideon! Is he okay?_" Julie's voice came over the phone this time.

"A few broken bones, cuts, bruises. Physically, he'll heal completely." He summed up his youngest agent's condition as quickly and simply as possible.

"_Broken bones? What happened?"_ Alex demanded, before speaking without giving Gideon time to answer._ "Never mind; listen, we have money put away for emergencies and Julie and I are going to fly down there. You can tell us everything when we arrive._"

Gideon shook his head even though they couldn't see him. "That's not a good idea."

"_What? Why not?_"

Sighing, Gideon briefly contemplated the best reason he could give for keeping the siblings apart. "Spencer has just been though a traumatizing ordeal…"

"_All the more reason for us to be with him! He needs us right now._" Alex was beginning to sound indignant.

"We can't crowd him right now. JJ is with him and he'll be released from the hospital after a day of observation. We will bring him home to you, I promise, but I need you two to stay calm and stay where you are." Gideon explained, calm but firm.

The line was silent for a short time before Julie's voice came, quiet but definitely there. "_When _will _you bring him home?_"

"The day after tomorrow. I wish I could tell you he'll be all yours, but I think you'll have to share him with JJ." Gideon replied, his mouth acquiring one of his odd half-smiles.

"_Alright. We'll see you then._" The line went dead.

Gideon sighed again, looking at the phone. If this nightmare was really over, why didn't it feel like it?

-/\-

The flight home had been tense and quiet. Reid had slept through the whole thing, probably unaware of the fact that there were six sets of eyes on him, watching him as though he was expected to suddenly disappear. However, when the plane landed and its youngest passenger was still firmly in his seat, the other occupants began to breathe easier. They were back home, perhaps now everyone could rest.

Gideon and JJ were to escort Reid home, but the other four team members were reluctant to be the first to leave. They all took their time in collecting their belongings until Reid, sounding rather irritated, told them to _go home_. Morgan stepped off the plane with a small smile in his surrogate brother's direction and gave Garcia a ride home, who only agreed to leave after being allowed a final hug from Reid. Emily was the next to go; she wasn't as close to Reid as the others, being newer, but that didn't halt the gentle, reassuring smile she gave him before she left. Hotch was the last to drive off, before Gideon, JJ and Reid, and he only did so after making sure everything was under control. It was Reid's tired glare that actually made him go home to receive some solace from his wife and child.

Spent from making sure his colleagues went home, got some rest and, more importantly, stopped fawning over him, Reid collapsed into the backseat of the SUV that took him and his companions back to his home. Finally, they pulled into the parking lot of Reid's building and it seemed to him like an eternity since he had seen the familiar surroundings. "I'm going to go up now and make sure everything's ready. Will you two be okay?" Gideon asked, turning around to face the back seat where JJ and Reid sat.

JJ nodded. "Go ahead."

Gideon nodded in return and headed up the building towards the apartment Reid shared with his younger siblings to 'prepare' things for his youngest agent's homecoming. JJ got out of the SUV and went around to Reid's side and opened the door for him. "I can open my own door… I'm not an invalid." Reid mumbled, stumbling out of the back seat and balancing on the crutch JJ handed him.

"I know, Spence, but it makes me feel better to do stuff for you. Remember? When you feel better, I feel better." JJ said with a gentle squeeze of her boyfriend's unoccupied hand.

Reid nodded almost imperceptibly, perhaps more to himself than to JJ, and began moving forward with the awkward shuffle of a person using only one crutch. The look of pain that crossed his face did not escape JJ's notice, but there was really nothing for it. The crutch was murder on his cracked and bruised ribs, but not using the crutch would have been murder on his broken foot. Slowly, they made it into the building, JJ next to Reid the whole way, carrying their go bags. Her shoulders sagged when they got into the lobby and she remembered a vital piece of information. "There's no elevator." She bemoaned.

"I only live on the second floor. I'll be fine." Reid told her quietly and began the arduous trek up the stairs to his apartment.

After a trip up the stairs that made both agents seriously question the supposed simplicity of the act, being as it now involved a lot of wobbling, hopping and leaning on railings, crutches and other people, they arrived at the door. Then, in the moment Reid had secretly been dreading since he woke up in the hospital, he reached out and turned the handle.

There on the other side, as was to be expected, stood Alex and Julie, looking anxious but relieved. Gideon stood off to the side, simply observing, as he often did. He had already warned the two that rushing into a hug or some other show of affection would probably not be well-received and that they should allow their brother to get settled first. So, instead, they smiled at him and he attempted to return the gesture, though he knew it probably came off as more of a grimace. Gideon took the bags from JJ and she, Alex and Julie followed Reid into the living room, where he eased down onto the couch and simply sat for a moment.

Then, alarming his audience slightly, he began to mutter. He wasn't meeting anyone's eyes and he was shaking his head and no one was quite sure what he was saying. He could have been holding an entire conversation, possibly with one or all of the people standing before him, but they weren't sure. "S-Spencer?" Julie asked tentatively.

Reid's head snapped up and they saw that his eyes were full of unshed tears. He stared at them for only a moment before he opened his mouth and uttered something they hadn't expected to hear. "I'm sorry…"

Tears sprung to Julie's eyes as well and she fell onto the couch next to him, wrapping her arms around his neck in as gentle a hug as she could manage. Reid immediately reciprocated with an arm around her back, ignoring the pain from his ribs. Alex wasn't far behind Julie; he sat down on Reid's other side and was welcomed by Reid's other arm. For the first time he would ever openly admit it to anyone who asked, tears ran freely from Alex's eyes. JJ, who also looked to be rather choked up, was unsure of what to do with herself and settled for sitting down on the last free space on the couch next to Julie.

They made quite a sight, piled on the couch and in varying degrees of distress. However, their only observer was Jason Gideon, who stood unnoticed in the doorway. And suddenly, he understood the vague feeling of unease he had been feeling since things had settled down in the hospital. He felt that the nightmare wasn't over because, really, it wasn't. They had simply entered into a new phase. Certainly, a tearful reunion could make them feel like there was closure, but this chapter was far from complete. It was only the beginning.

-/\-

A/N: And there we have it. Revelations wrapped up in a neat little 2, 173 word package. Well, not really; there's another chapter on its way. I hope I did that well enough for you guys to possibly enjoy it… as I said I'm really nervous about this. A review would be absolutely wonderful if you feel like giving it, I'd love to know what you think!

Thank you very much to Red K 5, donttouch, clt, criminalminds99, Eriks angel 15, SlasherrGirl, hudson911, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, KASEY64, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, RockerChild1987, and 92 for your wonderful reviews and messages! Thank you, also, to those who have put this on alerts and favorites! (I'd also like to apologize to Red K 5 again for misspelling your name!)


	22. Deserve

Family

A/N: Hello, all! So, this chapter started out being about 450 words long… and then I completely rewrote it… Hope it comes out better this time. Enjoy? And I'm sorry if any one cries… that seems to happen…

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 22: Deserve

Around two weeks after the events of "Revelations"

Things were progressing normally after Spencer's return to his life. As normally as life can progress for a trauma victim, at any rate. He seemed irritable all the time, which was understandable, really. He refused to let people fuss over him in anyway and would not let people walk on eggshells around him. His foul mood didn't seem directed at anyone in particular, though, so he was at least tolerable. Despite his demands that people stop treating him specially, everyone knew they had to make allowances for his recovery, and they didn't mind.

Both JJ and Gideon had set up camp in the Reid apartment, unwilling to leave the younger Reids alone with the problems which they knew would arise. Sure enough, there were nightmares aplenty for the first week. No one living in the apartment thought they had ever gotten less sleep than they had during that week. But as soon as the vivid memories had been toned down to a manageable level, Spencer had politely kicked Gideon out, saying the older agent needed real sleep.

Now, after two weeks of leave, JJ was due back to work and was slowly transitioning back to her own apartment. Spencer sat on the edge of the bed and watched as JJ went around the room and made sure she'd collected all her clothing. He watched her closely; he knew something wasn't quite right with her. He knew what had happened to her after they had split up and he had tried to apologize on numerous occasions, but she had brushed his apologies off. She said she was fine. He was attempting to think of the best way to bring up the subject again before she left when the neighbor dog did it for him.

JJ nearly jumped out of her skin as the German schnauzer next door began barking up a storm. Reflexively, Spencer reached out to place a hand on her arm, but pulled back before he actually touched her. "I'm sorry," He tried one last time.

"Spence…" JJ began.

Spencer shook his head, refusing to be deterred. "JJ, I need to say this, please." The female agent quieted and let him speak. "I- it was my idea that we split up, and- I know- you told me that you didn't have to listen, but I should have known better than to suggest it. I should have listened to you. It was a… poor judgment call that ended badly for both of us."

JJ remained silent still, allowing Spencer to gather his thoughts. "I just… you were my partner. You _are_ my partner- in so many ways. And I should have listened. You deserve a better partner…"

"Spence, no." JJ interrupted. "Do not do this. It was a mistake, yes, but you couldn't have known. Neither of us knew. I'm not angry at you and you shouldn't be angry with yourself."

"I…" Spencer tried to say before JJ cut him off.

"The best thing we can do is try to accept it to try and… and just learn to live with the decision we made. You know that. You can't keep stewing over the what-ifs."

There was silence for a few moments before Spencer spoke again. "I meant what I said."

"So did I." JJ replied readily.

Nodding, Spencer seemed to signify he would do his best to accept it and JJ smiled wanly. "I'm going to run the last of my stuff back to my apartment and then I'll be back, okay?"

Spencer nodded again and JJ gathered her things and headed out to her car. When she shut the bedroom door behind herself, Spencer sighed. He waited a few minutes until he heard the familiar sound of her car starting up and driving down the road and then dug a hand into his pocket. He pulled out one of the small vials of dilaudid he had 'salvaged' and sighed again.

He still couldn't believe he'd kept them. Not only had he stolen them from a dead man, but he'd kept them. He didn't intend on using them… not yet, anyway. Just knowing they were there was enough for now. He wondered who else knew they were there, however. The doctors had to have found the drug still in his system and they had to have reported it to someone- probably Gideon. Spencer wanted to wonder why Gideon hadn't said anything, but he simply couldn't bring himself to care.

What kind of horrible person was he? He had a family to care for and people who loved him. Why did he feel like he needed the drugs? Why couldn't he just hurl the little bottle across the room instead of rolling it back and forth between his fingers?

He leaned forward as far as his battered would allow and ran a hand over his face, contemplating his earlier words to JJ.

He'd said he was sorry. That she deserved better. And she did… She really did…

-/\-

A/N: Yeah… that was still kinda short, but better than 400 words, I think. I had a hard time deciding whether or not Reid would take the drugs in this universe or whether his siblings and JJ would be enough to stop him. In the end I had him take them for nothing more than convenience. Several of the later episodes would have to change without the drugs; hence, Spencer remains a druggie. Woo. A review would be lovely if you feel inclined to send one along…

Also, a huge thank you goes out to donttouch, clt, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, RockerChild1987, cmwinner, Eriks angel 15, criminalminds99, SlasherrGirl, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, KASEY64, xXxOtaku-444xXx, Red K 5, and criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak for your fantastic and encouraging reviews and thank you to everyone who has put this on their alerts and favorites!


	23. Need and Want

Family

-/\-

A/N: Hello, everyone! This chapter should be of respectable-ish length and will wrap up the whole drug thing for now. I have gone over this chapter so many times and while I'm still not entirely pleased with it, I don't know what else I can do with it. I just tried to slog through it and maintain at least a little quality… Erm… enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or drugs. Considering I still have enough control over my motor skills to type this, that last one should be a given. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

Warning: A little swearing and talk of drugs (obviously). If it bothers you… um… sorry?

-/\-

Chapter 23: Need and Want

Episode: Ashes and Dust

Spencer collapsed on his bed with a sigh. This case had been awful. There was no other word he could think of. Of course, if he hadn't been so distracted by his cravings for the little vial in the front pocket of his bag, he probably would have been able to do so. Sitting up, He reached into his bag and drew out a bottle of dilaudid and a needle.

He had been doing so well without the drug… but he meant what he'd said. He couldn't stop on his own. He, himself, couldn't believe he'd been brash enough to bring it up in the middle of a profile, but he didn't think anyone had understood what he was trying to say, anyway. He'd desperately wished they had; that someone had understood and offered him some help.

Twirling the needle between his fingers, Spencer glanced up at the door. He wished someone would burst through the door and take the drugs from him; take the choice out of his hands. He didn't know why they were all ignoring his obvious problem. They were the best profilers in the country, they had to know something was wrong. But, then, he couldn't really understand why he couldn't just ask them for help either.

_Anyway,_ he told himself, _no one __can__ burst in here and save me. I locked the door._

However, as if the universe was determined to prove him wrong, the doorknob turned, granting entrance to the person on the other side. "Spencer, are you okay? Didn't you hear me knocking?"

Julie stepped into the room but stopped dead when she laid eyes on Spencer. For once, Spencer's brain seemed to be out of commission. The lone thought that crossed his mind was _"Damn, I thought I locked the door…"_

"What is that?" Julie's voice was dangerously quiet, but it didn't stay that way for long. "Is that- are those _drugs_?"

Spencer attempted to formulate an answer, but Julie didn't wait before firing off more questioned, her voice rising with each one. "You're on _drugs_? For how long? What the _hell_ are you thinking? Are you high _now_?"

"No…" Spencer couldn't bring himself to look his youngest sibling in the eye as he answered her last question.

Julie marched forward and snatched the bottle and needle from his hand. "Julie!" Spencer heard himself half-shouting, irritated.

"Shut up." She told him, her voice steely.

Spencer paused and pulled away, surprised. Julie never spoke that way, especially not to him. Under normal circumstances he would probably have grounds to send her to her room. The thought was almost enough to make him laugh. What were 'normal circumstances'? He really wasn't sure anymore. The sound of Julie turning on her heel and stomping towards the door brought him back to the present. "Julie…" He called more weakly.

"What?" She asked, her voice still cold.

He paused before he answered. "…In my bag." He muttered.

He watched as his sister walked back to the end of the bed where he'd left his bag and grab it by the strap. She then proceeded to storm out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Spencer was left to wonder who she would call first.

She might call Alex, who was at work, but she probably wouldn't want him to get in trouble for leaving before his shift was over. She might call Gideon, who would be sure to help, but she would also be afraid of getting Spencer in trouble at work. Spencer shook his head; he needed to stop profiling his sister. Instead, he sat back on his hands and waited for whatever was going to come.

-/\-

15 minutes later, Spencer heard the front door open and shut again. There were hushed voices coming from the direction of the living room, but he couldn't tell whose. Finally, after another 10 minutes of conversation there was a quick knock on his bedroom door, followed immediately by its opening. "Spence?"

_That_ had not been expected. Spencer's eyes widened as the door opened fully, revealing Julie and JJ. She had called _JJ_. "JJ…" Was all he got out.

She didn't look angry, as he'd suspected. In fact, Julie didn't seem angry anymore, either. They both just looked terribly sad and that was what had caused his voice to choke off. "Julie, why don't you go wait out in the living room?" JJ suggested quietly.

Spencer fleetingly remembered when Julie had complained about always being shut out, but she did as JJ asked without question.

Silence reigned in the room after Julie shut the door and Spencer watched as JJ made her way over to his bed and sat down. She simply looked back at him and he wondered if she expected him to speak first. Really, what questions were there to ask, anyway? It was obvious _why_ he was doing it and for _how long_ it had been going on. The only question he could think of that she didn't have an answer to already was _where_, and she probably didn't want to know that anyway. Finally, still looking him right in the eye, she asked the one question he hadn't prepared an answer for. "How could you?"

There was no anger in the question, only confusion and hurt and something that could only be described as betrayal that tore at Spencer's heart. Part of his brain scrambled for an acceptable answer, but his voice was ahead of him. "I don't know." He whispered.

JJ shook her head. "Yes, you do," She replied, almost as quietly, "You know everything else; I know you know the answer to this one."

For some reason, that struck a nerve somewhere in Spencer's mind. He turned to face her fully on the bed, surprising her with the quick motion. "_No_, I _don't_. I don't know everything and I don't have the answer this time." He said fiercely. "I could give you some bullshit about how dilaudid becomes addictive after the first dose and how it's difficult to detox from but I don't think that's what you want to hear, is it?"

The blonde seemed a little taken aback by his vehement answer, but she recovered quickly. "Why dilaudid? Why Henkle's drug?" She asked, surprising him.

He looked away from her for a moment and looked back. "It's what he gave me." He said, his voice quiet again.

"What who gave you?" JJ voice had also softened.

"…Tobias Henkle." It took a minute for Spencer to form the name properly. "When the… cameras were off. When he was himself. He would…" Unable to finish the sentence, Spencer left in hanging in the air.

"Spence…" JJ moved closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Spencer shrugged it off and looked away from her. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"You… He did this to you. It's not your fault."

JJ put her hand back on his shoulder and he flinched but did not pull away. He began to mumble something, so quietly she barely realized he was speaking. "…What?"

"It _is_ my fault. He told me to tell him that it didn't help. If I'd have told him that, maybe he would have stopped. But, I thought… I thought I was going to die anyway. And it _did_ help at the time. I could escape that place… and then… I took it from him. When he was dead. I took the vials from his pocket."

There was silence again as JJ digested this particular bit of information. Finally, she put a hand on the side of Spencer's head and turned him so he was facing her. "It's _not_ your fault. So… you had a moment of weakness and then you were addicted. Under these circumstances, it's understandable. I just wish you could have trusted one of us enough to ask for help." She finished quietly.

Momentarily, Spencer's mind went back to the conversation he had had with Alex after Elle's departure. He remembered thinking that if he was ever in trouble, he would ask for help. He took a deep breath and looked at JJ. "Please… help me." He said with as much conviction as he could muster.

JJ pulled him forward into a hug and they sat there for short period of time before she pulled back and looked at him. "This is going to be hard." She said quietly.

Spencer nodded. "I know."

Later that day, both Spencer and JJ called in a few days of leave at work. Hotch seemed to understand it had something to do with whatever had been wrong with Reid lately and didn't ask questions.

Those days were some of the hardest of Spencer's life, made only slightly easier by two of the people he was closest to and the fact that he had _asked_ for this. They finally got Julie to agree to stay at Tina's house for a few days, though the girl wanted to help. Alex, after Spencer had talked to him, helped as much as possible. He had been angry at first, as Julie had been, but it gave way quickly to simple sadness.

On paper, withdrawal had sounded horrible; in real life, it was much worse. However, early one morning, a few days after Spencer's secret had been discovered, the chills broke and the nausea subsided and Spencer found he could think clearly for the first time in weeks.

He felt increasingly better from that point on as he helped clean up the mess that had accumulated while JJ and Alex were helping him through withdrawal. The physical need for the drug was still there; he could feel it, itching beneath his skin, but the want was gone. He sat on the couch the next day, his and JJ's last day of leave, with his siblings and JJ and found that he really didn't want anything but what he had right now.

-/\-

A/N: I'm sorry if that was sort of lame. I honestly don't know what else to do with it, though, I really don't. I'm just not good at the whole drug thing… I hope it didn't come out too badly, though. Finally, we can move on! Next up: Gideon's departure.

By the way, Julie's friend Tina was introduced in Chapter 9 (Julie's birthday) and Spencer's conversation with Alex was in Chapter 15.

A huge thank you to criminalminds99, clt, SlasherrGirl, Eriks angel 15, donttouch, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, Bindie, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, bellesandwhistles, Red K 5, and RockerChild1987 for putting up with these past couple of chapters and reviewing and thank you very much to everyone who has put this story on their favorites and alerts!

Oh, also, I've been interviewed and it's up on the fabulous "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum, which is super cool… er… yeah, that's it.


	24. BodyDumping and ForceFeeding

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! So, one would think, what with Gideon's departure and all, this one is gonna be all dramatic and angsty. But not really. I mean, there will be drama and angst, but I'm adding a puff of humor, because I simply cannot stand all this angst. Sooo much angst the past three chapters! I require smiles to live!… sorry, I'm getting off topic here… the point is: enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or a cabin. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 24: Body-Dumping and Force-Feeding

Episode: In Birth and Death

Spencer had been doing well lately. He had been without the drugs for a few months now and he had been doing well. But now, his hold on his addiction was tenuous at best. He was so tempted to use at this moment. To just _forget_ that he was sitting in Gideon's empty cabin with nothing more than a note. That this scenario was happening for the second time in his life. That he had been so _stupid_ as to get attached to Gideon in the way that he had…

Sighing, Spencer leaned back in the chair and resisted the urge to scratch at his inner elbows. He was so tempted… but he wouldn't. He sat in the cabin for close to an hour, but made no move to go find what his body was screaming for. Finally, he brushed away the tears he had never shed, tucked the letter into his bag, went back outside and got into his car. On autopilot now, he started the Volvo, pulled away from the cabin, and headed for the main road.

With each passing mile, he felt a little less distressed. He didn't have time to react to the news beyond the time he had taken at the cabin. It had been the same when his father left. Spencer had had a mother and brother to take care of and, though he hadn't known it at the time, he would have a baby sister as well. Now, he had to inform the team that another of their ranks- another of their family- had bolted.

-/\-

Spencer opened the apartment door and locked it behind himself, dropping his messenger bag by the table in the hallway and extracting his cell phone from his pocket. He wondered who he should call first, clicking though his contact list, and settled quickly on Hotch. The man would most likely take over completely as team leader now, he had the right to know. However, when he caught sight of the time, he decided the call could probably wait until morning. Or, later in the morning than 1:30, anyway.

Instead, he unconsciously readied himself for bed, pulled back the covers, got in, and shut his eyes. Lack of a good night's sleep since before the night he spent in Gideon's office made falling asleep relatively easy, even if it wasn't for very long.

-/\-

When Alex woke that morning, it was not of his own free will, but due to his stomach's protest at lack of sustenance. Of course, the smell of pancakes had some play in it as well. He wandered out into the kitchen and found Spencer standing at the stove, tending to several pans of breakfast food. He took in the bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes and coffee and then looked at his brother, who had circles under his eyes dark enough to suggest a sleepless night, or week, as the case may be. "Man, I know you're a morning person, but this is ridiculous. How long have you been up?" Alex asked, grabbing a piece of bacon.

Spencer shrugged and reached for a spatula. "An hour or so."

"So you got, what? Three, maybe four hours of sleep? You weren't home by the time I fell asleep and it was past midnight then."

Shrugging again, Spencer added three more pancakes to already impressive pile on a plate by the stove. "Hm…" He turned to the bowl he had made the batter in and found it empty. "Maybe I should make some more batter…"

"Spencer, you already made, like, 20 pancakes. That's more than the three of us can eat. Unless we have guest I don't know about, I think we have enough pancakes." Alex told him, grabbing the bowl and putting it in the sink. He paused for moment before speaking again, choosing his words carefully. "Did you talk to Gideon last night?"

"I went to his cabin. Do you want some more bacon?" Spencer asked, holding the plate out to his brother.

"Hey, did you change the subject? I completely missed it." Alex asked, grabbing another strip of bacon.

Spencer dropped the plate forcefully on the counter and yanked a chair out from the table, sitting down abruptly. Alex froze for a second, waiting to see if there were any more unexpected moves coming, before he sat down as well. "I take it the talk with Gideon didn't go well…"

"I didn't talk to Gideon." Spencer replied quietly, his voice icy. "He's gone. He left me a _note_."

Alex suddenly remembered a morning when he had come out of his room and found Spencer in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. Alex had sat down at the table and Spencer had served him half-decent scrambled eggs and then told him that dad had left. Alex hadn't really understood at first. He kept expecting his father to come through the door at the end of the day, but he never did. He never came back again. Alex remembered that his father had left a note, which Spencer had read to him. Alex remembered very little of that note, but he remembered that the explanation hadn't been a good one and that Spencer's voice had shook as he read it.

"You never told him about Dad, did you?" The statement wasn't really a question, but Alex couldn't think of a better way to phrase it.

Spencer shook his head. "He knows… knew that he left, of course, but I never told him about the letter."

There was silence for a time before Alex spoke again. "Did you tell anyone else?"

"What time is it?" Spencer asked, glancing at the microwave. "I don't have my contacts in."

"It's about 6:30."

"I'll wait. It's our day off; everyone else should at least get to sleep in a little."

They sat there for a little while longer before Julie came out and inquired about the large breakfast. They explained that Gideon had left and she had sat down at the table, a little shocked. Silence reigned for a while after that. Then, Alex spoke again. "Well, I liked Gideon… it's too bad I'll have to kill him."

"_What_?" Spencer asked, his head snapping in Alex's direction.

"It's not like I'm going to go hunt him down, or anything. But if I ever see him again, I'll have to kill him." Alex said with a shrug.

Spencer gaped at the young man before him. "How?" Julie asked.

"Julie!" Spencer turned in his sister's direction, surprised.

"I don't know… Spencer, what's the best way to kill someone without leaving any evidence?"

Alex and Julie could see Spencer almost start to think about the question before he shook his head. "I'm not telling you that." He said stubbornly. "We are not having this conversation."

The room was quiet for a short time before Spencer spoke again. "And it's not _how_ you do it, anyway. The real thing people trip up on is getting rid of the body."

His siblings seemed surprised for a moment before they laughed and the sheer absurdity of the conversation they were having over breakfast. Even Spencer laughed a little.

Later, he called Hotch and informed him of his impromptu promotion. He stayed holed up in his room for most of the day, not even caring how childish the action was. His siblings seemed to realize he needed to mope… At least for a little while. Someone, he later was surprised to find out it was Hotch, called JJ and she came over in the evening with a pizza and forced him to eat dinner. Spencer had no illusions about getting over this loss quickly. It would be a sore for a while, he knew. However, conversations about body-dumping and being force-fed pizza somehow helped a little. He wondered what, exactly, that said about him…

-/\-

A/N: There you have it…That conversation about killing people and it being difficult to hide the body is based off a real conversation I had with my mother. A review would be lovely, if you feel like it.

Thank you very much to cmwinner, criminaminds99, donttouch, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, RockerChild1987, SlasherrGirl, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, clt, Red K 5, and xXxFailingDreamsxXx for your wonderful reviews! You guys completely rock! As for alerts and favorites, there were 66 and 58 respectively at last count (I was sick and bored…) and I am thanking you all very much as well!


	25. First Impressions

Family

A/N: Hello again! I apologize for the slight delay; FF wasn't working on my computer this morning. Anyway, I believe it's time to meet Rossi… kinda skipped a chunk of time but I didn't think there was really much to address in the time skip that I hadn't already. Oh, and for the sake of the plot, since I kinda screwed up, we'll pretend that the events of "Lucky" and "Penelope" didn't happen until _after_ Thanksgiving… Other than that… enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters and Thanksgiving. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 26: First Impressions 

Episode: About Face (A few weeks later)

David Rossi sat back in his new office chair and looked out into the bullpen. The mood was somewhat downtrodden, despite the fact that the team was on the verge of a long weekend. Thanksgiving was mere days away and the BAU was getting a little well-deserved break. However, the last case had cut right into everyone's plans and it was officially too late to catch any flight even relatively close to the holiday.

He watched Agents Morgan, Prentiss and Reid- Dr. Reid, that was- finished up their reports and began to pack up. He saw Agent Jareau come down from her office and lean up against _Dr._ Reid's desk. Rossi smirked a little to himself. When Hotch had warned him that Jareau was taken, Rossi had assumed she had some boyfriend outside the bureau. Imagine his surprise when he had walked into the parking garage and caught her with the good doctor mid-kiss. He'd decided the blonde had to know something about the kid that he didn't, because the genius just seemed plain annoying to him. Useful, admittedly, but annoying. From what he could gather, they had been together for almost two years, though. _You never can tell about people_, Rossi thought as he watched that "different" technical analyst- Garcia- come out into the bullpen as well.

The tech leaned up against Morgan's desk and spoke with a smile on her face. Everyone else seemed to brighten as well. Rossi had questioned the woman's usefulness at first, but he had to admit- she was good. She also seemed to be great for morale.

The group suddenly broke up, everyone seeming much more cheerful, and he saw Garcia head up to Hotch's office. He could hear her knock and Hotch's call to enter and then nothing else. Wondering if he was to find out exactly what was going on, Rossi turned back to his desk, only to be interrupted a few minutes later. "Come in." He called.

Garcia opened the door and shut it quietly behind herself, then turned to face Rossi. She seemed to be doing her best not to fidget nervously as she stood before the senior profiler. "Uh- hello, Sir."She began skittishly, "The other members of the team and I were talking and… well, we thought since there isn't really any way for any of us to get home in time for the holiday… that maybe we should all get together. On Thanksgiving, I mean."

Rossi stared at her for a moment, weighing his options. "I'm not really into that whole "team bonding" thing, Garcia." He said, picking his pen back up.

"Nobody said anything about _bonding_, sir. I mean, you could just sit off to the side and observe if you want. It would be a great chance to see how everyone… interacts outside of work and… give you a better idea of the inner workings of the team. Hotch- er, Agent Hotchner is even bringing Jack- his son- by for a little while after dinner." Garcia explained, choosing her words carefully.

The older man had to hand it to her, she knew how to appeal to a profiler. Nobody was less guarded than they were on a holiday, while they were eating, or around children. It was tempting… "I'll think about it." He replied finally.

Garcia beamed at him, suddenly becoming immensely chipper. "Great! We'll be at Agent Prentiss' apartment since she has the most space. The celebration starts around 1:30 or so, but feel free to drop by whenever… sir." She turned to leave the office but spoke a final time before shutting the door. "Uh… see you on Thursday, maybe."

Sitting back in his chair, Rossi wondered whether or not he should actually go. Hotch _had_ mentioned something about no intra-team profiling, but Rossi didn't really care too much about that. They were all welcome to profile him as well. He thought perhaps he already had most of them pegged anyway.

For instance, they were going to Prentiss's apartment because she had the biggest space. She was the daughter of a diplomat and while she may deny that particular part of her roots, she was still more used to living with at least a little bit of luxury. Morgan would probably have a larger space as well, but he was a bachelor; the typical- what did they call them?- _player_. He wasn't likely to have the equipment needed to cook Thanksgiving dinner.

Hotch's place was out, of course, being as he would be spending dinner with his son; Rossi had already deduced the man was divorced. Garcia probably lived in a smaller space and while she might have the necessary tools to cook a dinner for the whole team, it was doubtful she had room for them all. Jareau would also have a small apartment- cozy, she would probably call it- and judging by her figure, probably didn't spend much time cooking, anyway.

As for Reid, well, he was probably the least likely out of all of them to be able to serve and seat a team of people. He probably lived in a tiny, messy space where he could store everything related to work and the ridiculous number of doctorates he had. Rossi doubted he knew how to cook, either; his demeanor made Rossi think 'sheltered upbringing' and considering how skinny he was, he probably spent less time cooking than Jareau. Probably survived on takeout.

No, Rossi didn't really _need_ to know much about his coworkers beyond how they worked… but, he supposed it couldn't really hurt to have a look…

-/\-

At 2:00 that Thursday, Rossi found himself standing in the hallway outside Prentiss' apartment, holding a bottle of wine and knocking on the door. A rather surprised Prentiss opened the door and allowed him inside. "Agent Rossi- uh, hi." She said, shutting the door and turning to face him.

"Don't tell me I'm not welcome?" Rossi half-asked dryly.

"No, of course you are, I'm just a little… surprised."

Rossi nodded. "Thought you might be. This should help." He replied, offering her the bottle of wine.

"Oh," She accepted the bottle, seeming even more surprised. "Thank you, but you didn't have to…"

"I assumed everyone else would be bringing something and I'm not much of a cook."

Prentiss shrugged almost imperceptibly. "Well, thank you. Make yourself at home." She placed the bottle on the counter as she headed into the kitchen where Garcia and- to Rossi's surprise- Reid were standing. "Most of those who don't want to cook are hanging out in the living room."

Rossi turned to the space containing a television and large couch and saw the remainder of the team and two people he'd never met before. Jareau sat on one end of the couch, in conversation with a girl who looked to be about 15. Morgan sat on the other end, enraptured with the game on the TV, and a young man who could barely be in his 20s was standing up off the couch. He walked past Rossi and leaned on the bar separating the kitchen from the living room.

Prentiss and Reid had both returned to cooking and failed to notice him, but Garcia was more observant. She snatched his hand just as he was about grab a piece of apple which seemed to be going into the stuffing. "Hey! What did I tell you? You are to stay away from the kitchen under penalty of death." She snapped, smacking the young man's hand gently. "Don't think I don't know about your bad cooking juju. Now shoo, before it rubs off on us."

"Bad juju?" The young man seemed perplexed for a moment before turning pleading brown eyes on the tech. "C'mon Garcia, I'm starving."

"Tough luck, sweetness. Go sit down and wait patiently like a good little boy."

The young man scowled at her but returned to his spot on the couch by Morgan and Garcia seemed pleased. When she saw Rossi standing nearby, she smiled a little wider. "Agent Rossi, you decided to come." She observed happily.

"I thought it would be interesting to see you people operate when you're not on a case." He said, leaning against the bar slightly and watching as she added the apples she'd just saved to the stuffing mix.

"…And is it?" She asked with the barest hint of a smile.

"It's a little soon to tell. I am curious about one thing, though."

"What's that?"

"Who brought the kids?" Rossi gestured to the teenage girl and young man sitting on the couch.

"Oh, Reid did. Alex and Julie, they're his brother and sister." Garcia explained, her voice growing a little quieter.

Rossi raised an eyebrow, regarding 'Alex and Julie.' "He brought his brother and sister to dinner with the team?"

"Yeah, they're sort of our insurance so we don't start talking about work. Plus…" Garcia paused, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Well, he couldn't just leave them alone…"

Intrigued now, Rossi continued his line of questioning. "And why, exactly, would they be alone if he had dinner with us?"

Garcia shifted uncomfortably again and cast a glance in Reid's direction, who seemed busy helping Prentiss with the turkey, before she answered quietly. "He has custody of them… well, of Julie, anyway. Alex isn't a minor anymore…"

Now _that_ was a surprise. Rossi wanted to continue questioning the tech, but he guessed she was probably about to clam up. Years of interrogating suspects made him sure of it. "Before you ask, I can't tell you anything else. Reid will tell you if he wants to." Garcia said, proving Rossi correct.

Rossi only shrugged slightly and went to sit in the armchair in Prentiss' living room.

-/\-

It wasn't until after dinner when most people had converged around the kitchen to clean or talk that Reid approached Rossi. "I'm guessing you probably want to know why I have custody of my siblings. Or at least one of them." He said without preamble.

Rossi would have been surprised, but he supposed the kid wasn't in the BAU for nothing. "Sorry," Reid shrugged. "I heard you talking to Garcia earlier and most people… well, they want to know."

"I can imagine." Rossi said, before adding, almost as an afterthought, "But I won't try and butt into your life… much."

Reid smiled a little. "It's our job to be nosy, Agent Rossi. Besides, I'm not really… embarrassed about it. I used to be, but not quite as much anymore." He paused and steadfastly avoided Rossi's gaze. "I've been taking care of them since I was 10."

Years of working as an investigator stopped any surprise from registering on Rossi's face. "That's a big responsibility."

Nodding, Reid continued. "My mom wasn't really… able to care for the three of us. I gained custody of them when I was 18."

"Where's your mom now?"

"…A mental institution back in Las Vegas. She has schizophrenia. They offer her better care than I was ever able to give her." The younger man replied quietly.

_Sheltered upbringing indeed…_ Rossi found himself thinking. "Where does your father fit into all this?" The older profiler knew he wouldn't get answers if he was afraid to ask questions.

"He left when I was 10, before Julie was even born, so… nowhere."

Rossi could hear the bitter edge on the young profiler's voice, not that he could really blame him, and was on the verge of another question before he was interrupted. "Hey, Spence, Rossi, Hotch is here. It's time for pie." JJ said, coming out of the kitchen.

Reid turned a small smile on Rossi before following JJ back towards the kitchen and leaving the older man standing in the living room.

-/\-

After the pie and coffee, there was more conversation as Garcia cooed over Jack, while Emily pretended not to, and Julie seemed rather enthralled as well. The others watched, amused, as Jack attempted to get Reid's attention- of all people- and Reid seemed petrified. Rossi barely noticed Hotch when he came and sat down next to him. "So, did you find out anything interesting about the team?" The other man asked nonchalantly.

"Are you suggesting I only came to spy on them?" Rossi asked, nodding his head towards the group.

"I'm not suggesting anything- I'm saying it outright." Hotch said with the barest hint of a smirk.

Rossi glanced at Hotch and chuckled slightly. "I'll tell you one thing; your team has a few surprises up its sleeves."

"Our team. It's yours too, now." Hotch reminded him.

Giving a slight nod, Rossi returned to watching the group and Hotch could have sworn he heard him mumbling. "_Our_ team, huh?"

-/\-

A/N: Hm… that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Not too sure about this one, but I kind of like it at the same time… Y'know, in "Memoriam" Rossi already knows about Reid's mom and dad and everything, but they never say exactly when he found out… so I took a little liberty with that. Er… until next time, I suppose.

Thank you so very much to clt, cmwinner, donttouch, criminalminds99, SlasherrGirl, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, Eriks angel 15, Noel Ardnek, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, Hopeful Writer, RockerChild1987, and LadyRogueTiger for your amazingly wonderful reviews and thank you as well to those of you who added this to their alerts and favorites!


	26. The Shooting

Family

A/N: Hello, all! This one is simply angsty-fluff between JJ and Reid. Enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 27: The Shooting

Episode: Penelope

The moment JJ stepped in her apartment she could feel her control begin to dissolve. She had held it together long enough to make it out of the office and drive home, but she knew she couldn't hold back any longer, and she didn't really want to. She had just killed a man, after all; she should be devastated. The part that really bothered her, though, was the fact that she wasn't that upset about the actual killing. Rather, she was upset about not being upset.

She dropped her purse and go bag by the door and kicked off her shoes. She wasn't really too bothered with not making a mess today. She went straight back to her bedroom, where she changed into a comfortable pair of sweat pants and large t-shirt she had unashamedly stolen from Spencer a few weeks ago. Inhaling the gentle scent still attached to the shirt, she finally began to feel the tears build up in her eyes.

JJ almost wished Spencer was there with her but, at the same time, she didn't want him at all. A small part of her was still unwilling to cry in front of him. She knew it wasn't fair, as she had seen him at his lowest. Between his kidnapping and helping him through withdrawal, she had seen him sobbing and screaming and vomiting and begging for her to just _shoot_ him and get it over with. He had allowed her to see all of that and she knew she could return the favor, but some part of her was still reluctant.

The larger issue, though, was that she didn't want to seem… _weak_ was a word her mind provided, but she wasn't sure that was quite right. JJ could remember the first time Spencer had shot someone and how unaffected he'd seemed. Sure, he hadn't slept on the plane ride home, but he'd seemed almost… lighter. Maybe it was only because he had finally hit the target, but if that was how he had acted after his first shooting, surely any way she reacted would be weak by comparison.

As JJ sat on the couch contemplating all of this and considering breaking out her emergency supply of chocolate, her doorbell rang. Cursing silently, she got up and stopped at the mirror in the hallway. There will little rivulets of tears running down her cheeks and taking some of her mascara with it. She carefully wiped away the marks until she looked more presentable. It was still a little smudged, but there was nothing for it and she opened the door. On the other side was the first and last person she wanted to see at that moment. "Spence, what are you doing here?"

Spencer gave her a look that clearly said how obvious his motives ought to have been. "I came to see if you were alright." He said quietly.

"I'm fine." She said defiantly, but stepped away from the door to let him in anyway.

Brow furrowed, Spencer turned a confused look on JJ. "Fine? JJ, you just shot a man…"

"_I know that_." JJ replied icily, returning to her spot on the couch.

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you didn't… I just…" He trailed off, somewhat frustrated, and sat down beside her. "You're wearing my shirt."

"That's very observant, Spence." JJ replied with a hint of real humor in her voice.

"You wear my shirts when you're upset." He tugged gently on the hem of the one of the sleeves.

"I also wear your shirts when I'm asleep, but I am currently wide awake."

Spencer shifted uncomfortably on the couch and they fell into silence for a short time. There was no sound but that of the clock on the wall and the occasional rustle of clothing as one of the two agents moved on the couch. It was Spencer who broke the silence. "JJ, it's okay for you to be upset."

"I never said I wasn't upset." JJ said, avoiding his eyes. "In fact, I'm a little upset that you're profiling me."

"I'm not profiling you, JJ. I'm trying to be a friend." Spencer said quietly. "I know I'm not very good at that… but I'm trying."

His tone was almost enough to make JJ feel sorry for being so short with him- almost. "So, do you think you're the only person who can be unaffected by a shooting?"

"Unaffected?" His tone was colored with surprise, but quickly became irritated. "You think I was _unaffected_?"

Surprised by the other agent's sudden change in tone, JJ turned to face him. "You never seemed affected. In fact, you seemed just fine after the LDSK." Her tone was somewhat accusatory.

He looked almost as if she had just slapped him. "I-I struggled… with _both_ shootings. Did you really think taking Philip Dowd's life was _easy_ for me? Or- or Henkle's?" He paused but spoke again when she tried to respond. "Killing both of those men affected me quite a lot. When I shot Dowd I… I cried. Later; after I got home. And… well, you know how I dealt with the second time." He stopped for a beat a looked away, somewhat embarrassed. "I never told anyone it was difficult; I didn't want to seem… _weak_, I think…"

JJ was silent for a moment before the tears came back with a vengeance. All reservations she had about crying in front of Spencer were promptly put on hold as she felt his arms tentatively come around her shoulders. She wrapped her arms tightly around his midsection, encouraging him to hold her closer and he obliged. "I'm sorry…" She whispered against his shoulder.

"It's okay." He replied, rubbing gentle circles across her back.

"I-I just feel so terrible… I mean, I should feel guilty but…" She trailed off, not knowing how to complete her sentence without feeling like a monster.

"…You wanted him dead." Spencer finished.

She pulled back slightly, surprised. "I- yes, I feel like I did. What kind of person does that make me?"

"The same type of person as me, maybe… not that that's necessarily a consolation." He replied with a slight smile. "I felt the same about Dowd. But I realized… that doesn't make me the same as the people we hunt. Dowd was about to kill a roomful of innocent people, including Hotch and me. Battle was threatening to kill another man, he shot Garcia, he murdered other people… There's something Gideon told me after the LDSK."

"What's that?"

"You did what you had to do and a lot of good people are alive because of that." He paused for a moment before continuing. "And I'm proud of you."

JJ gave him a small, watery smile before pulling him back into a hug. "That probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but it's true…" Spencer continued.

"It means a lot coming from you, trust me." JJ mumbled against his shirt, pulling him more tightly against herself.

-/\-

A/N: Hm… I realized that I had JJ taking care of people a lot throughout this story, but nobody taking care of her, so I thought that's what this chapter should be about. A review would be absolute bliss!

Big huge thank yous to criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, donttouch, thatsrebeccatoyou, cmwinner, Eriks angel 15, Noel Ardnek, criminalminds99, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, clt, Red K 5, and RockerChild1987 for your fantastic reviews! Thank you very much to everyone who has added this to their alerts and favorites as well!


	27. Remember the Cheese

Family

A/N: Hullo, everyone! It is time for 3rd Life… A little angst, a little fluff, a little drug-talk… what more could you want? Erm… yes, enjoy, please!

Oh, by the way… 300 reviews! You guys friggin' rock! Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or drugs. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 27: Remember the Cheese

Episode: 3rd Life

Alex and Julie became aware of the fact that Spencer was home a moment before the door opened. They were also aware of the fact that JJ was with him. The two agents came into the apartment, walked down the hall and dropped their bags in Spencer's room and then came into the living room, arguing all the way. Well, Spencer was arguing; JJ was using the same placating tone she used for unhappy local cops. "I'm not saying I don't appreciate it, but you did not have to drive me home. I'm perfectly fine." Spencer snapped, stalking over to his desk and dropping down in the chair.

"And I never said you weren't. What's wrong with your girlfriend giving you a ride home?" JJ replied, sitting down in the easy chair by the couch.

"Absolutely nothing unless, of course, she's only doing it because she thinks you've been traumatized." Spencer retorted.

"I do _not_ think you've been traumatized." JJ said, a hint of indignation slipping into her voice.

"No, he's right, you only give him a ride home when something bad happened." Alex chimed in, looking over at JJ.

"You see? Thank you." Spencer directed this to Alex before continuing to JJ. "You usually let me drive, or you say you'll meet me over here after you drop your things off at your apartment."

"That's not true, I'm sure I've driven you home without anything bad having happened before." JJ countered.

"You did. After that case in Montana two months ago." Julie cut in.

Alex turned and glared at her. "How would you even remember that?"

"Because it was before my birthday. I remember Spencer saying that he asked _JJ_ to stop at the store _when they were driving home_ so he could get stuff for dinner." Julie replied smugly.

"You're making that up." Alex accused.

"No, she's right, I remember that too." Spencer admitted. "And she could very well remember something because it was near her birthday, since our memory works by association…"

"Spencer, focus! You're in the middle of an argument." Alex reminded him.

"Oh, thank you, Alex, that's very helpful." JJ cut in.

"What? You have to argue the whole thing out now or it'll just get worse later." Alex defended himself.

"Or we could have been done with the whole argument now while he went off on a tangent about memory." JJ said, irritable now from the combined forces of the case and the argument.

"Well, if the memory is associative, wouldn't he just look at something like cheese later or something and remember he's mad at you?" Julie piped up.

Alex and JJ were silent for a second before one of them responded. "_Why_ would he remember an argument because of _cheese_?" Alex asked incredulously.

"I don't know!" Julie's voice climbed in volume defensively. "It was the first thing I thought of!"

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway, because at least we wouldn't be arguing right after a case when we're irritable and tired." JJ said, picking up on the previous strand of argument.

Spencer watched as Alex and JJ argued back and forth, their volume increasing, and just as Julie cried out with, "I've got it! He would look at the cheese and think of mice, and then…", Spencer called out to cease the shouting. "Will you all please _stop_? You're so _loud_."

They all fell silent immediately, save for Julie's mumbled "sorry." Occasionally, when he was already tired or irritable, they knew Spencer could be bothered by excessive noise. Silence reigned for a short time and it was Alex who broke it. "Well, you started it." He muttered quietly.

It was Julie who cracked first, giggling a little, and was soon joined by Alex and then JJ. Spencer was still scowling, but it was mostly for show. "Why- _heh_- does JJ think you're traumatized, anyway?" Alex asked as the laughter died down.

"I don't think he's _traumatized_." JJ cut in, but said nothing further.

"I… the case didn't end well." Spencer said, seeming to shrink slightly in his seat.

"What happened?" Julie asked quietly.

Spencer shook his head. "I'd rather not say…"

Alex and Julie looked to JJ and she, too, shook her head solemnly. "Well… are you okay?" Julie continued.

"I- I…" He paused, seemingly unable to find the correct words. "I just want to _forget_."

Everyone in the room froze, wondering if that indeed meant what they thought it did. The fact that Spencer seemed unable to meet their eye confirmed it. Unsure of what to say, they were all silent for a moment. "Cheese." Julie finally said.

Spencer's head snapped up and he stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"Cheese." Julie repeated plainly.

"What is it with you and cheese?" Alex asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Julie ignored Alex in favor of Spencer. "I think anytime you want to forget something, you should think of cheese instead."

Spencer was silent for a moment, his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "I fail to see how eating cheese would help me forget anything…"

"No, you don't have to eat it, just think of it. You said that memory works by association… so I'm betting that any time you think of cheese, you'll think of tonight, and then you'll think of us. It might not help you forget, but it'll make you think of other stuff." Julie replied.

Still confused, Spencer nodded hesitantly. He knew there was an understanding among the members of the team that they would never profile each other or their family, but sometimes Spencer was sorely tempted…

-/\-

Later that night, Spencer and JJ lay in bed, tangled together under the sheets. "I can still see it." Spencer said suddenly, the first words he'd said since they had started getting ready for bed.

"I know." JJ replied quietly.

"I still want to… forget it."

JJ sighed before she answered him. "Cheese."

JJ felt rather than heard the slight laugh that Spencer gave before he spoke. "Did you know there are seven types of cheese?"

Smiling as Spencer continued to explain cheese to her, JJ nestled her head into the crook of his neck and settled in for the long haul. Better cheese than some other things, after all.

-/\-

A/N: And I say unto you wonderful readers… cheese. Sorry. The word's been stuck in my head for some reason. Hope you enjoyed chapter 27 and get ready for another flashback next time! Woo. I love writing those… If you feel compelled to write a review, that would be super-fantastic as I have a nasty cold and I would love a cheerful message from someone!

Speaking of which, thank you very much to RockerChild1987, bellesandwhistles, Noel Ardnek, donttouch, Eriks angel 15, xXxOtaku-444xXx, clt, Laura Beth loves Jesus, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, criminalminds99, Hopeful Writer, and CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ for your wonderful, spectacular reviews! Thank you very, very much as well to everyone who added this to their alerts and favorites!


	28. Alex's Memory

Family

A/N: Hullo, all! This one's gonna be kinda longer than usual because there are quite a few things to deal with. I really wasn't sure when the "Goalpost Incident" happened, so I'm going to say it was close to when he graduated. Just to be clear, y'know. Um… enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 28: Alex's Memory

Episode: Elephant's Memory

"I cannot believe you!" JJ shouted, yanking the key out of the ignition.

Spencer winced; he'd been expecting this, he just didn't know she was going to wait until they'd arrived at his apartment for her to start yelling at him. When she offered him a ride home, he thought the chewing out would have started then. "JJ…" He started.

"No, there is absolutely no excuse! What in the hell were you thinking, Spencer?" JJ asked, stuffing her keys into her purse angrily.

"I was thinking I could finally get his face out of my head… If I saved one." Spencer replied quietly.

"Who's face?" JJ's tone softened slightly, but the anger was still in her eyes.

"Ryan Phillips."

JJ paused. Of course; the UnSub that had been murdered in front of him. She should have known that's what this was about, he'd told her he couldn't get the boy's face out of his head. Unsure of what to say, she settled on: "You're an idiot, Reid."

He glanced up at the use of his last name, but looked away again, nodding. "You can't start keeping score." JJ continued.

"That's what Hotch said." Spencer replied.

"You can't do things like that, Spence. You have people that depend on you, who love you. You have Alex and Julie, your mom, the team, _me_…"

"I'm sorry. I just… I knew if I didn't do something, Owen Savage was going to die and I couldn't handle that. I couldn't fail like that again."

There was silence for a moment before Spencer dared to speak again. "I… I probably don't deserve to ask this of you but… please. Please don't tell Alex or Julie."

JJ sighed, looking undecided. "Spence… you could have been killed."

"And they don't need to know that. They know I'm in danger when I go to work, but they don't need to know exactly what I'm doing. Please…"

Sighing again, JJ nodded. "Don't you ever do anything like that _ever_ again, or I swear, I am going to shoot you." She paused for a moment and added, "And you're making dinner tonight."

"It was my turn anyway…" Spencer said as he got out of the car with JJ.

"Well, then you're making dinner every time I come over until I say so."

Spencer simply nodded and remained silent this time, deciding it was a fair trade for her silence.

-/\-

"So, what's for dinner?" Alex asked, wandering into the kitchen and watching Spencer stir a pot full of water.

"Pasta." Spencer replied, his voice somewhat short as he whipped the spoon out of the pot and placed it on a paper towel on the counter.

Alex observed his brother for a moment while he cooked and then nodded slowly. "You know, I've been working on my own profiling skills… I think I'll test them now." He said conversationally.

Spencer looked confused, but said nothing. Alex tapped his chin thoughtfully and then pointed to Spencer. "I'd say that _you_," He began slowly, "Did something stupid while you were in Texas."

"And what are you basing this assumption on?" Spencer asked, smirking slightly.

"Well, when you and JJ came home, JJ went immediately to your bedroom and got her change of clothes. She then sat down on the couch and has been there ever since, channel surfing and looking irritated. You, on the other hand, have made no move to change your clothes and have been condemned to the kitchen ever since you got in." Alex replied triumphantly.

"Are you sure it wasn't JJ's declaring that I am a 'colossal idiot' when we came in that tipped you off?" Spencer asked wisely, stirring the pan of sauce.

Silent for a moment, Alex shrugged. "Okay, so maybe that helped a little." He said with a small grin. "So… what'd you do?"

Tensing up, Spencer turned away from Alex to look in the oven at the refrigerator breadsticks that were baking. "I'd rather not say."

Alex sighed, but Spencer ignored the glare that came his way. "What was the case about, then?" The young man asked.

"…It was a school shooter. He didn't actually go to the school and shoot anyone, but he went after people who had… wronged him in some way."

"Ah. Did you get him, or…"

"We got him." Spencer paused for a minute and sat down heavily at the table across from Alex. "I sort of… lost my head, I think. I know, actually. This one really got me though." He admitted quietly.

"Why?"

"He- they… if you knew what his classmates did to that kid… Of course there's no excuse for killing people, but…" Spencer seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment, deciding if he really wanted to admit to Alex what he really thought. "…I really _identified_ with this one."

Alex nodded slowly. Though he hadn't quite been eight when Spencer had graduated high school, he remembered clearly the trouble his older brother had had with bullies. He remembered one time in particular, probably one of the worst times, close to Spencer's graduation.

_-May, 1994_

_Alex sat on the couch, trying hard not to nod off. It was 11:45 at night and well past the time Spencer or his mother, when she was feeling alright, allowed him to stay up. However, his mother was not feeling alright and, what was worse, Spencer was not there. Remembering a time a few months ago when he had been a similar situation, Alex stood up off the couch. It was much worse this time, though; Spencer was more than just an hour late. He was almost eight hours late._

_Shaking his head in attempt to wake up more, Alex went to find his mother. "Mom?" He called into the bedroom, poking his head in the door._

"_What? What are you doing here, Alex?" Diana shouted, tossing her notebook down on her bed._

"_I… I live here, Mom…" Alex reminded her, as he had sometimes seen Spencer do._

"_Yes, yes I know that." Diana replied testily. "But why aren't you at school?"_

_Alex watched fearfully as she went to the bookshelf in her bedroom and began tossing books onto the floor. "It's really late, Mom… Spencer isn't back from school yet."_

_Diana didn't appear to hear him. "Alex, when Spencer gets home from school, tell him the neighbors have taken my collection of Chaucer. Tell him that."_

_She continued muttering as Alex left the room, slouching hopelessly. "Neighbors have been watching too closely… never trusted them. I'll bet they took it to frighten me. Well, it won't work… Your government scare tactics won't work on me, you thieves!"_

_He shut the door in an attempt to keep Diana from waking the baby, but it was too late. Julie's cries rang through the house and Alex rushed into the nursery and climbed on a chair to peer into the crib._

_The 18-month-old was squirming under her blanket and fussing rather loudly. Alex hoped she wasn't hungry, because he really wasn't sure he could manage to feed her again. As it was, the dinner of baby food had been a small disaster. Unsure of what else to do, he climbed carefully into the crib next to the fussy child. The wood creaked but held and Alex carefully pulled Julie into his lap. He could tell she needed a diaper change, but he had no idea how that worked, so he simply continued holding her._

_After a little while, Julie calmed down and fell back to sleep and Alex eased her back onto the mattress. He managed to climb back out of the crib without jostling her too much and successfully made it out of the small nursery without waking her. He looked at the clock in the kitchen and found that it was almost 12:15._

_He was so tired, but he couldn't go to sleep until he knew what had happened to Spencer. He almost went out to search for his brother when he hadn't gotten home by 5:30, but after the incident in October, Spencer had told him that if anything like that ever happened again, he should stay put. If he didn't come home by morning, Spencer had told him that he should call 9-1-1. So Alex would do just that. If Spencer wasn't back by morning, he'd call the police._

_However, just as Alex was resolving to stay up all night to wait for Spencer if he had to, the front door clicked. "Spencer?" Alex shouted, dashing out into the hallway._

_There in the hallway, with his clothes rumpled and looking frightened, exhausted and bruised, was Spencer. "Spencer, you're back!" Alex rushed up to his brother and moved to pull him into a hug._

_Spencer gave a cry of fright and shied away from the seven-year-old. Alex stopped and looked curiously at the older boy. "What's wrong?"_

_His older brother looked over at him, his eyes wide, and shook his head. "W-what time is it?"_

"_It's after midnight. What's wrong? Where've you been?" Alex asked, reaching out to grip his brother's sleeve._

"_I… I'm sorry I'm late…" Spencer tried to make his voice sound strong, but failed miserably._

_It was at that point, as Alex accidently pulled Spencer's sleeve back slightly, that he noticed how bruised and chafed his brother's wrists were. One of the scrapes was still bleeding. "Were you… battling again?" Alex asked, his eyes wide._

_Spencer nodded numbly, also staring at his wrist. "Did- did you win?" Alex's next question came._

_Instead of an answer, Spencer drew in on himself, sliding down the door and landing on the floor in a crouching position, his head on his knees. Alex managed to make out a muffled 'no.' He reached out to put a hand on Spencer's shoulder, but jumped midway through the action at the sound of a crash._

_Also jumping at the crash that came from Diana's room, Spencer's head snapped up. "What's going on?" He asked, looking towards the nursery as Julie began to cry again._

"_Mom says the neighbors stole her books." Alex supplied, scrambling to catch up with Spencer as the older boy started towards the back of the house._

_Spencer stopped short. "Did… did she notice I was gone?" He asked quietly._

_Alex shook his head. "I don't think so."_

"_Oh…"_

_Julie's crying ramped up some more when her needs went unattended. "I think Julie needs to be changed, too." Alex remembered._

_Nodding somberly, Spencer went into the nursery with Alex tagging behind. The younger boy could almost hear Spencer's constant muttering of "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" over the ruckus. What he was sorry for, Alex hadn't been completely sure of for a long time._

_It took Spencer nearly an hour to put the house to rights and by then Alex had dropped off to sleep, waking up in the morning to find it was as if nothing had ever happened._

It had been years before Spencer admitted to Alex what had transpired that night. Taking that- just one of many experiences- into account, Alex could _almost_ see how someone could turn into a killer from such vicious treatment. He didn't know nearly as much about psychology as Spencer- or anything at all, really- but he knew things like that took their toll on the psyche. Speaking of which… "Hey, Spencer," Alex asked, looking up at his brother who was back at the stove. "How was your… meeting?"

Tensing up again, Spencer glanced out the kitchen door and into the living room where JJ sat, but she did not seem aware of the conversation taking place. "I- I didn't get to stay. It was interrupted."

"What did you tell the team?"

"That I was at a movie." Spencer replied.

After a beat of silence which was broken by the timer for the pasta going off, Alex spoke again. "Are you going to… catch the rest of your _movie_?"

Spencer seemed to be thinking as he pulled the pot of water off the stove and moved it to the sink to dump it in the strainer. "You know, I think I will."

-/\-

A/N: Hm, not as long as thought, but longer than average, I think… I just love writing flashbacks for this story. Banana. "The Instincts/Memoriam" is coming up soon, and that should be chock-full of memories. Er… a review would be lovely if you feel like it!

Thank you so, so much to clt, cmwinner, Eriks angel 15, criminalminds99, hudson911, Skyler1510, RockerChild1987, jesusfreak100percent, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, Laura Beth loves Jesus, SlasherrGirl, Noel Ardnek, Red K 5, donttouch, and CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ for your wonderful reviews and well-wishes. I do feel better now, by the way. Thank you, also, to everyone who has put this on their alerts or favorites!


	29. The Right Choice

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! It's time for Minimal Loss… and… yeah, I don't have much to say this time. Enjoy…?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters or brain bleach. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 29: The Right Choice

Episode: Minimal Loss (a little over a week later)

The bullpen was relatively quiet and mostly empty. The only person left in it was Emily and she wasn't planning on staying much later. Just as she moved to gather her things, she noticed two people approaching the group of desks. "Hey, guys." Emily smiled at Alex and Julie.

"Emily! You're back." Julie greeted, quickly coming up to Emily's desk.

When Emily raised a questioning eyebrow, Julie explained. "Spencer told us you were out for a few days after…"

At this time, Emily noticed both siblings were studying her carefully and she realized Reid must have told them what she had done. "I'm _fine_. It was just some bad bruises." She assured them.

Indeed, she was fine. Though she had been swollen and sore, the wounds were superficial. Between the healing she had done and some foundation, it was difficult to even tell anything had happened. Emily had debated over the use of makeup for a bit- she wasn't ashamed of the bruises, after all- but had decided to use it in the end. The stares she got from those who weren't on the team were enough to weight her decision.

Neither Alex nor Julie seemed entirely convinced she was alright, but she didn't give them time to argue. "Reid is talking over a consult with Hotch right now, but I'm sure he'll be done soon." Emily said.

The two younger Reids nodded and seemed to settle into place. Alex sat down in Reid's desk chair and Julie leaned on the junction between her brother and Emily's desks. There was silence for a time, but as soon as Emily closed her last folder and put it in a tray on her desk, Julie spoke again. "He was kind of angry at first, you know."

Emily looked startled and wondered if all Reids had a habit of spouting out random things. "Excuse me?" She asked, regarding the girl with confusion.

"Spencer." Julie specified. "He was kind of mad. About the way things happened, y'know?"

At a loss for a way to respond, Emily remained silent. "Oh, not at you, of course!" Julie amended quickly. "It's just… I think he was just angry that you… needed to do what you did in the first place."

"I told him it wasn't his fault." Emily replied, sounding somewhat exasperated. "It was my decision…"

"Did you really think that would work, telling him that?" Alex interjected form his spot behind Reid's desk.

Emily shrugged, appreciating that it was no longer painful to do so. "I thought I should at least try."

The three of them lapsed into silence for a moment, which was broken by Julie. "Somewhere, deep down, he's probably grateful for what you did." She began contemplatively. "But… he's been taking care of us for forever and then, suddenly, he has friends who take care of him. Even though it's been a few years, I still don't think he's used to it. To having people besides us who will do what you did for him."

Emil nodded. "What was that like, growing up with Reid? I can really only imagine him as my sort of geeky friend…" She asked with a small laugh.

Julie smiled too. "It was interesting, definitely. I think he sort of tried to be mom, dad and himself all at once." Both she and Alex laughed a little. "He was pretty cool, though."

"He… went through a lot for us." Alex said, more quietly. "More than I think he's told anyone… even us."

There was a beat of silence before Emily found herself wrapped in a hug from Julie. She was glad she was healing up nicely or she probably would been in a bit of pain now. Her arms came up around the girl's thin shoulders after a moment. "I don't know if Spencer will ever admit to how he really feels about what you did, but Alex and I are… just… thank you." The girls pulled back, blushing slightly at the unplanned show of affection.

Backing up slightly, she jumped as she nearly walked into Alex, who had stood up and was standing behind Julie. Quickly, as though worried he would think better of it, he leaned forward and pecked Emily on the cheek. He, too, puled back blushing. Emily searched for something to say, but Reid saved her the trouble. "Alex… why were you just kissing Emily?" The eldest Reid asked as he approached his desk, sounding almost fearful.

"I… uh…" For the first time Emily had ever seen, Alex was at a loss for words.

"Don't put ideas in his head, Reid." Emily grinned and glanced at Alex. "Though he _is_ cute."

Reid paled and Alex laughed, faster at catching onto Emily's joke. "_That_ is… slightly disturbing." Reid said, shaking his head and moving to his desk to gather his things.

"Well, gee, don't be afraid to say how you feel." Emily replied, laughing a little.

"I think I may need… what did you call it?" Reid turned his question on Julie. "Brain wash?"

"Brain bleach." Julie nodded.

"Ah," Reid gave a small enlightened noise as he nodded and pulled on his coat.

Emily laughed a little more and began to collect her own belongings. She had never doubted the decision she made, but being in that office and seeing her friend smile after everything she knew he'd been through and some things she was sure she would never imagine, she was more convinced than ever she had made the right choice.

-/\-

A/N: Hm… sorry, that was shorter than I thought… However, Memoriam is up next and the next three-ish chapters should be long! Woo!

I would like to thank the academy… no,wait… I would like to thank everyone who reviewed (and that's way better, anyway ;) ). So, thank you very much to Hopeful Writer, clt, donttouch, Eriks angel 15, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, cmwinner, criminalminds99, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, Laura Beth loves Jesus, Noel Ardnek, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, Red K 5, and RockerChild1987! You guys are awesome! Thank you as well to everyone who added this to their alerts and favorites, you are also awesome!


	30. Pulling Favors

Family

A/N: Howdy, everyone! It's finally time for Memoriam! This will be covered in about three chapters, but there may be more… This part of the story seems to have gained a mind of its own and is going in a completely different direction than I thought it would… however, I'll try not to let it take over! …Anyway, enjoy the first installment!

Ooh, also, we're officially 3/4 of the way done! Yeesh… 10 chapters left after this one…

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 30: Pulling a Favor

Episode(s): The Instincts/Memoriam

Spencer knew he had been heading towards this point since he'd had that dream a couple of nights ago- complete exhaustion. Of course, he had rather been hoping it would have been accompanied by something… relief, satisfaction, accomplishment- _something_. But the only thing he really registered was the pure exhaustion that came from too many nights with too little sleep.

He glanced wearily over at his parents, both of whom, he thought almost guiltily, he was simply too tired to deal with. However, before he could come up with a good way to remove himself from their presence, his father spoke. "I- I suppose, after everything I put you… _both_ through," William began, glancing at Diana and then looking back at Spencer, "I don't really deserve to ask anything of you…"

_Why do I get the feeling he will anyway…_ Spencer thought to himself, though he was too tired to put any real irritation into it.

"But, I would really like to see… them. Alex and…"

"_Juliet_." Spencer told him, finding that he wasn't too tired to be irritated after all. "Your daughter's name is _Juliet_."

"I _know_ that." William snapped back before changing his tone. "I'm not asking for a lot here, Spencer… I just want a chance to see my son again… And to really meet my daughter."

"You had a chance to do that before you left 16 years ago." Spencer replied icily.

"Spencer…" Diana began.

"I didn't know your mother was pregnant." William spoke over his former wife, his voice rising slightly.

"William…" Diana tried again.

"Would it have made a difference?" Spencer scoffed. "You were already leaving _two_ children, what was one more?"

William opened his mouth to reply but was overridden by Diana. "Spencer, William, stop this right now." She said, the tone of her voice effectively shutting both men up. "Spencer, they're his children. He can ask to see them if he wants."

Spencer was silent for a moment. He wanted to argue, but the exhaustion was creeping back into his consciousness and pushing the fight out. Sighing and sending a weak glare in his father's direction, he spoke again. "I'll call them and ask, but I won't force them to see you."

Diana nodded and Spencer stood up to leave the room at the station where they had converged. "I'll come and see you before I leave, whatever they decide." Spencer said, direction his soft assurance only towards his mother.

Smiling, Diana waved him out. "Go get some rest, Spencer." When her son had gone, she turned back to William. "You know it's not that easy."

William nodded, also seeming tired. "I know."

-/\-

Morgan, Rossi and Reid had at least attempted to help wrap up Riley Jenkins' case before they were none-too-politely kicked out of the Las Vegas police station. They weren't complaining, of course. Gratefully, they piled into the one SUV they still had and headed back to their hotel. Reid filled the other two men in on the part of the story Jenkins wouldn't be telling the police. As far as the LVPD know, no had walked in on the murder of Gary Michaels.

By the time the three agents had returned to the Fountain View, they had settled into a tired silence. Feeling as though they hadn't accomplished much of anything, they retired to their respective rooms.

It was in his room that Reid sat, hours later, glaring at his cell phone. Several times he'd reached out to call home and several times he had dropped the device before hitting "call." He had been out of contact with his siblings for the past two days, telling them he was very busy but would call as soon as he got the chance, and he really wanted to talk to them. Calling, however, meant asking them the question. He sighed, knowing he couldn't put it off forever. But just as he as he reached out for phone once more, the sound of knocking reverberated through the room. Grateful for the excuse, Reid stood and moved to the door.

Unsurprisingly, Morgan was standing in the hallway. Without a word, Reid stood aside and allowed the other agent to enter and take a seat in one of the chairs. Reid sat down in the other chair and there was silence for a few moments. "Figured I'd come see how you were doing." Morgan said finally.

Reid nodded, contemplating his answer. "I've been better… but worse things have definitely happened." The younger man replied quietly.

Morgan nodded in return and was silent once more. Having known Reid for years, he knew the genius would open up a little more if given time. He wasn't disappointed when Reid finally spoke again. "I… I'm sorry. For the way I've been about this case. And about my dad." He paused to clear his throat. "I just… I don't know. Maybe something in me finally came loose. I went for so many years not knowing where he went or why he left…"

"You had to know." Morgan finished for the younger man when he trailed off.

"I- yeah." Reid paused again, seemingly unsure what to say next. "I got my answer, though."

Morgan said nothing, but his body language alone said he wanted to know. "He said… once he'd left, he just _lost confidence_. That he didn't know how to take care of us anymore."

Letting out a small huff of derisive laughter, Morgan shook his head and Reid nodded in response. "It's not much of a reason, no…"

The two men were quiet for a few minutes until Morgan saw the perplexed look settle into place on his friend's face. "Something else bugging you?" He prodded.

Reid seemed to being thinking about the question for a moment before he answered. "He wants to see them. Alex and Julie."

"Are you going to let him?" Morgan asked, keeping any opinion out of his tone.

Reid regarded the other agent, contemplating his answer. He knew Morgan was protective over him and, by extension Alex and Julie, and wondered what the other man's feelings really were on the issue. "I promised my mom I would call them." The younger man said finally. "It… I'll leave it up to them whether they want to see him or not…"

"So, you haven't called them yet?"

"What am I supposed to _say_? Hey, Alex, I know dad left when you were five but he wants to see you. Julie, you finally get to meet your father. _Oh_!" Reid continued, tossing his hands into the air. "By the way, things are little sore between us because I just accused him of raping and murdering a child 23 years ago!"

"I'd leave off the last part." Morgan told him.

Reid huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I seriously don't know what to do here." He sighed, sounding halfway between irritated and hopeless.

"Reid, man, I can't tell you what to do… I've never done anything like this." Morgan replied quietly. "But what I can tell you is that you have a great family, with or without your dad. They get you even when the rest of don't and I think whatever you tell them, you guys will be okay."

Sighing, Reid leaned over and picked up his cell phone. "I hope you're right." He said, pushing speed dial one.

Morgan clapped his friend on the shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze before heading for the door. As he was shutting it behind himself, he heard Reid's quiet "thank you" and smiled slightly to himself.

-/\-

Alex walked into the kitchen and dropped his plate in the sink. Though generally Spencer liked to keep the apartment clean, Spencer wasn't there. He usually called before he left and gave Alex and Julie enough time to clean up any small messes around the house.

However, Spencer hadn't been in contact as of late and it was making both younger siblings a bit skittish. Not because they were worried about him coming back to a mess, really, but because days when Spencer didn't call were few and far between and they were eerily reminiscent of those few days when he _couldn't_ call. The events of nearly two years ago were pushed out of Alex's head, though, when the phone rang. "Hello?" He asked, pushing the call button and bring the handset up to his ear.

"_Hi, Alex._" Spencer's voice came through the phone, quiet and unsure.

"Hey, where've you been the past few days? We haven't heard from you." Alex replied leaning against the counter.

"_I- yeah, I'm sorry about that. I'm still in Vegas. We finished the case and then I had some… stuff to do._"

"Stuff? Can you be any more specific?"

"_No._" Spencer's short reply surprised Alex, but the tone of his brother's voice made him pay attention. "_Listen, Alex, I… I talked to… I found… Dad wants to see you._"

Alex froze and the air went out of his body for a moment. "Dad?" Was all he managed to choke out.

"_It's a long story and I'd rather explain in person if I can._" Spencer spoke quickly but managed to slow down for the next part. "_He wants to see both you __and__ Julie. I told him I would call you guys, but choice is totally up to you._"

"I… I don't… know. I don't know." Alex mumbled, gripping the phone tighter.

"_That's fine… I don't need a decision right this minute. I… I do need to talk to Julie, though. That should… give you time to think._"

Alex was nodding before he remembered Spencer couldn't see him. "Yeah, I'll- yeah. I'll go get her."

On Spencer's end, the line was silent as Alex went to Julie's room and knocked on the door. The soon-to-be 16-year-old answered quickly and became puzzled at the look on Alex's face. "Alex? Are you okay?"

Her brother nodded and held out the phone. "Spencer needs to talk to you."

"Spencer?" Julie asked, brows furrowed in confusion. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he just has to talk to you."

Julie took the proffered phone and retreated back into room. "Spencer?" She asked into the receiver.

"_Hi, Julie._" Spencer's voice came over the line.

"Hi. What did you say to Alex? He looks kinda freaked out."

"_I… Um… I finished the case a couple days ago and then had some things to take care of. While…_" Spencer faltered for just a moment but then continued speaking. "_While I was taking care of those things, I… I found Dad_."

The line was silent for so long Spencer began to wonder if his sister was still there. "_Julie?_"

"Yeah." Her voice finally came.

"_Did you hear what I said?_"

"I heard. Go on."

"_Well, he… uh… wants to see you. Both of you- you and Alex._"

Julie gave no sign she had heard, beyond an "uh huh…".

"_I told him I would ask, but it's your decision._" Spencer was silent for a moment. "_Julie, you don't have to._"

"Right." The girl paused. "Can I… think about it?"

"_Yeah. Yes, of course._" Julie could almost hear Spencer nodding. "_Just… call me back when you two come to a decision._"

"Okay. Bye."

"_Bye._"

-/\-

Back in Las Vegas, Spencer ended the call and rubbed the spot on his cheek where the cell had grown hot against it. He'd done his part, he thought as he put the phone down on the table. Now it was just up to Alex and Julie.

-/\-

A/N: Man, there's a heck of a lot to cover in these three chapters! I hope I don't forget anything important… Also, I hope you guys enjoyed this first part! More coming soon…

Also-also, I must now thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter, for you all rock! So, thank you very much to donttouch, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, clt, Noel Ardnek, SlasherrGirl, Laura Beth loves Jesus, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, criminalminds99, The little Cullen, angeleyes46, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, RockerChild1987, Hopeful Writer, Red K 5, softxdxlllxball, CRIMANL-MINDZ-FANZ and creative-writing-girl13 for your phantasmagorical reviews! I know that word may not be applicable here, but I love it so darn much! Also (to the power of 3), thank you very much to everyone who added this their alerts and favorites!


	31. Meetings

Family

A/N: Okay, I am seriously nervous about a chapter for the first time since maybe introducing Rossi… This is definitely my favorite chapter of the three for Memoriam, though. I just hope I don't screw it up! Um… enjoy, I guess (after that confidence-inspiring note, right?).

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, a jet, and so on… Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 31: Meetings

Episode(s): The Instincts/Memoriam

Sighing, Reid pressed back into the seat on the jet and shut his eyes. However he'd been expecting the Jenkins' case to end, this wasn't it. He hadn't been expecting to call his siblings and tell them they had the opportunity to meet with their estranged father. He hadn't been expecting to receive a call back during which they told him they wanted to do it. And he definitely hadn't been expecting William Reid to purchase a plane ticket and promise to meet him in Virginia. Just that morning, Reid had told his father about what Alex and Julie had said.

"_They said they'll meet you." Reid told William, his voice even._

_William gave him a relieved smile. "Thank you, Spencer. I've missed you and Alex… and I've wanted to meet Julie for so long."_

_Spencer nodded. "You'll have to come to Virginia, though. I'm not pulling Julie out of school."_

_He almost expected the man to hesitate, but wasn't surprised when he didn't. He knew his father had more than enough personal days. "Of course I can come down there. I can be there tomorrow, even."_

_Spencer nodded again. "Uh… good, I guess. I'll let them know."_

Reid had promised himself that he would remain civil for the visit. He was still angry- his father had given a poor excuse- but for his siblings' sakes, he would keep the sniping to a minimum. That did not mean, however, that he was entirely happy about the meeting. He shut his eyes and attempted to ward off the headache that was threatening to bloom behind his eyes. He barely noticed the person sitting down next to him until they spoke. "So you're dad's never met his daughter, huh?" Rossi asked conversationally.

Smirking slightly at Rossi's bluntness, Reid shook his head. "He left before anyone even knew Julie existed. I didn't know I was going to have a sister until maybe a month after my dad was gone."

"That must have been an interesting time." Rossi remarked.

"Interesting… is putting it mildly. Terrifying might be more accurate. My neighbor, Theresa McNabb, was a certified psychologist, though. It was an amazing stroke of luck she was there and that she agreed to help us… without her, we never would have made it seven and half months without my mom's medication. I doubt we would've even managed to evade being taken into foster care."

"I'm sure you had something to do with that, too." Rossi replied.

"I was barely 11." Reid said with a rueful laugh. "I had no idea what I was doing. Reading all the books in the world doesn't prepare you for when your schizophrenic mother goes into labor."

Rossi snorted and even Reid laughed a little. "I can see where that could be a problem." The older man said.

"And after what seemed like a ridiculous amount of trouble, I still couldn't see what was so wonderful about having a baby…" Reid remembered fondly.

_Spencer stood pressed almost completely against the window, staring intently at the tiny creature lying in the bassinet marked "Reid." The whole thing was… pink. Its face was pink and its scalp under the fine halo of blondish-brown hair was pink and the blanket it was wrapped in was pink. The blanket, of course, indicated that it was a girl and Spencer reminded himself he should probably stop referring to her as "it" in his head. Alex, who had been standing next to Spencer, began hopping up and down, trying to see into the nursery. "I wanna see too!" He whined slightly, tugging at the hem of Spencer's sleeve._

"_Shh, you have to be quiet." Spencer reminded the 6-year-old, who fell silent immediately. "I'll try and lift you up…"_

_Uncertain for a moment, Spencer finally hugged Alex around the waist and hoisted him up. "You're squishing my legs!" Alex hissed as he wiggled in Spencer's grip._

"_Stop moving!" Spencer whispered back, attempting to keep a hold on his brother._

"_You're gonna drop me!" No sooner had the words left Alex's mouth than had Spencer lost his footing._

_Spencer landed on the floor with an undignified 'oof' before Alex landed on top of him, knocking the air out of him. "Got off me!" Spencer gasped, shoving the younger boy off of his stomach._

_Finally, Spencer's breathing returned to normal and he and Alex stood up off the floor. "I __told__ you to stop moving…" Spencer began, just as a nurse walked by._

_The woman eyed the two boys suspiciously but seemed to have more important places to be, as she kept on walking. "Give me a boost." Alex suggested, looking back up at the window which evaded his veiw._

_Sighing, Spencer knelt down on the floor and held his hands out so they formed a step. "Hurry up." He told Alex._

_Alex wasted no time in stepping into his brother's outstretched hands. Unprepared for the weight, Spencer found his fingers being squashed into the floor momentarily before he was able to boost Alex up. "Higher!" Alex whispered loudly._

_Spencer managed to lift his brother up high enough that Alex could balance on Spencer's knee instead of his hands. "Which one is she?" Alex asked, bracing himself by placing his hands on Spencer's head._

_Making a muffled noise of discomfort as Alex pushed on his head, Spencer glared at his brother's knees. "Second row back, third baby from the right."_

_Silence. "I thought you said it was a girl?" Alex whispered after a moment of searching._

"_I said the __right__!" Spencer whispered back, ducking his head and snatching one of Alex's legs as the boy wobbled and threatened to fall for a moment._

_More searching. "OH!" Alex nearly shouted before he remembered his vow of silence. "I see her!"_

"_Good, now get off me! You're putting too much pressure on my leg." Spencer told him, only to be ignored._

_Sighing again, Spencer settled in for the long haul. He supposed it was a good thing that Alex seemed so intrigued by his new sister, but Spencer was still having trouble understanding what the appeal about babies was…_

_-/\-_

_Later, Dr. Theresa McNabb and three of the now four Reids were holed up in Diana's room. Alex had been fast asleep in the easy chair in the corner of the room for about an hour and Diana had been dozing in and out. Theresa and Spencer were both awake and sitting across from each other in rather uncomfortable hospital chairs, playing a game of cards. It was at that point that a nurse came in and interrupted the sleepy atmosphere, carrying the newest Reid. "Mrs. Reid," the woman said softly, rousing Diana from her doze. "Would you like to hold your daughter?"_

_Smiling tiredly, Diana sat up further in the bed and held out her arms, accepting the small pink bundle. Her smile turned from tired to fond as she looked down at the baby girl in her arms. Even though she was still without her medication, her mind seemed to be giving her a blissful moment of rest. After a few moments, she looked up and noticed Spencer watching with interest. "Spencer, would you like to hold her?" She asked quietly._

_Eyes widening, Spencer backed away from the bed. "I…" He started, but was unsure of what to say._

_Diana chuckled slightly and motioned Theresa over. She handed the woman the baby gently and Theresa took a moment to admire the wriggling pink thing as well. After a minute, she knelt down in front of Spencer. "Put out your arms." She instructed the boy quietly and Spencer obeyed. "Now, mind her head…"_

"_Because her neck is too weak for her to support herself yet." Spencer finished with ease, having read the same thing in a book at the library._

"_That's right." Diana said, smiling warmly._

_Theresa smiled too and then placed the baby in Spencer's arms. Spencer adjusted his arms around the bundle so her head rested securely against his upper arm and then looked down at her. He had expected, perhaps, after he got to hold her, be close to her, he would understand what all the fuss was about. However, he found he still didn't quite understand. Certainly, there was something oddly fascinating about holding something so new and fragile in his arms, but… no, he just didn't understand. Perhaps he simply wasn't attached to it yet. It probably didn't help that he didn't have anything to call her but "it" and "her." "What are we going to call her?" He asked, looking up at his mother._

_The nurse, who had been standing forgotten next to Alex, who was still asleep, stepped forward. "If you have a name in mind now, I could go put it on the birth certificate." She offered._

_Diana nodded. "Margery." She declared. "After Margery Kempe."_

_The nurse looked slightly surprised, blinking in a dazed sort of way, but nodded, not wanting to show her true thoughts on the name. Spencer, however, had no trouble declaring his dislike for his mother's idea. "Mom, I'm not sure that's a good idea…" He said, wrinkling his nose at the name._

"_What are you talking about? Margery Kempe was a wonderful writer." Diana replied, as though it settled the matter._

"_I know, but…" Spencer tried to think of an argument that didn't have anything to do with teasing. "I just don't think she looks like a Margery." He offered._

"_Oh? And what do you think she looks like?" Diana asked._

_Spencer stared down at the squished pink face peeking out of the blanket. To be honest, she really didn't look like anything to him. Instead, he went through the names of female characters and writers from the 14__th__ century- his mother would be more likely to accept those. Finally, he came to an acceptable one. "Juliet." He told his mother._

_Diana considered the name for a moment before she smiled and nodded. "That's a good one. We'll take it." She told the nurse._

_The nurse nodded and smiled, obviously fonder of "Juliet" than "Margery", and headed out to add the name to the birth certificate. Just after she left, "Juliet" awoke. Spencer managed to catch one look at her large, brown eyes before she started screaming. Theresa quickly relieved Spencer of the crying bundle, both she and Diana laughing at the shocked look on Spencer's face._

_No, Spencer definitely didn't understand the appeal of infants…_

"So even _you_ didn't like your little sister…" Rossi said, interrupting Reid's memory.

"I didn't _dislike_ her…" Reid protested, but stopped at the look Rossi was giving him. "Well, anyway, I liked her more when she started developing a personality."

"Uh huh…" Rossi replied with a knowingly. "So, if you basically raised your brother and sister, what happened to that next door neighbor of yours?"

"She- uh… her husband got a job offer in another state. They moved away just after I graduated high school." Reid said.

Rossi nodded again and fell silent. Reid regarded the older man for a moment. He never doubted that Rossi liked him, but he never talked to him this much outside a case- or to anyone except Hotch, really. Finally, it dawned on Reid what the other profiler was up to. "Thank you," He said, sitting back in his seat once more. "For talking."

"No problem, kid."

-/\-

Julie was nervous. Beyond nervous, really. She couldn't think of a word to describe the odd feeling she had right now, which was somewhere between having butterflies in her veins and ice cubes in her stomach. She wondered briefly if there even was a word for this feeling- or this situation. How many people got to meet their father for the very first time when they were 16 years old? She almost wished that Spencer had never found… him. She didn't even know what to call him, how was she supposed to talk to him?

Although Julie had never had a father figure, she never felt as though she'd exactly missed out. Of course, there were those times when her friends talked about their fathers that she would wonder what it would be like to have a dad, and there was the fact that they outright ignored Father's Day in their house, but still… Her mother was wonderful, even if she wasn't always mentally or physically present. Alex was a great big brother, both helping her and teasing her in a true sibling-like fashion. And Spencer… well, Spencer filled in all the cracks. He was no father figure, true, but he had always at least tried to be there for her when there was something she needed, and he was good at it.

Her mother had usually been able to discuss matters Julie was only able to discuss with another female and Alex advised her in social situations and was her occasional partner in crime and Spencer did quite a lot of things, involving helping her with homework and taking care of her and Alex both… really, what was there left for a father to do? As far as she was concerned, everything was just about covered.

However, now that Spencer had found "Dad"… and he wanted to see her… the temptation was too much to resist. This was exactly why she was sitting stiffly on the couch on a Saturday afternoon, between Alex and JJ, who was there for "moral support" (though for whose, Julie wasn't sure), and watching Spencer pace back and forth across the living room while they all waited for the arrival of William Reid. And just when it seemed like time had stopped and he would never get there…

The doorbell rang.

Everyone nearly jumped out of their skin before Spencer shook his head and went to answer the door. They could hear muffled voices in the hallway and then Spencer's even, familiar gait coming back, a stranger's uncertain steps behind him. "Alex, Julie… JJ," Spencer said as he stepped back into the living room, pausing after that. He seemed unsure of what else to say, so he simply stepped aside and allowed the stranger in. "Uh… this is William Reid."

-/\-

A/N: Probably the closest to a cliffhanger you'll ever get in this story. Sorry! I fully intended on there being an actual conversation between William and his kids, but Spencer's memory took up more space than I thought it would… gosh darn that eidetic memory of his… and, really, I have no idea how JJ got there. She totally wasn't in the original plans. But, anyway, I do believe I'll be wrapping this part of the story up next chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed!

Also, Happy Mabon (fall equinox)!

Also-also, Criminal Minds season 6 premiers in the US today! Hope everyone out there gets to watch and enjoy it!

Also x3, thank you so very much to everyone who reviewed this past chapter! The following people are super nifty: clt, Eriks angel 15, donttouch, Hopeful Writer, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, criminalminds99, Laura Beth loves Jesus, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, RockerChild1987, Noel Ardnek, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, Skyler1510, Daisyangel, creative-writing-girl15, and ! You, in addition to the people who added this to their alerts and favorites, are supremely nifty!


	32. Awkward

Family

A/N: Hello! I am so sorry for not updating on time! School's had me frazzled this past week and I sorta ran out of chapters and I wanted to have at least one after this written before I actually posted this chapter… I got that written, and then FF stopped working! It's been on and off all day and it's never worked long enough for me to post the chapter. So, once again, I am SO sorry! I hope this was worth the wait…

Here's the Reid-family interaction (minus Diana) you guys've been waiting for!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 32: Awkward

Episode(s): The Instincts/Memoriam

This really had to be the definition of awkward. When it's been silent for about five minutes, every member of your group is pretending to be interesting in something else, and event he trained media specialist can't diffuse the situation , you've probably moved beyond awkward. "So… Alex, you mentioned that you graduated college recently…" William said finally.

Alex nodded, finally looking back at his father. "With a bachelor's in graphic design. I'm looking for a job now."

"Ah," William nodded. "Going to get a place of your own?"

"Well, I was thinking about it…" Alex started, only to be cut off by Julie.

"You're moving out?" She asked, her eyes going wide.

"No, I said I was _thinking_ about it. But I won't leave until you at least have your driver's license." Alex replied, before wincing at his phrasing. "I mean, not _leave_, just- get my own apartment."

Julie nodded and looked away again. Spencer was glaring intently at a lamp and JJ looked as though she wanted to say something but was too uncomfortable to do so. William sighed into the silence. "No one is saying it, so I'll address the elephant in the room." He said suddenly. "I left…"

"You abandoned us…" Spencer interjected quietly.

"I- yes. I did. And I know it doesn't make much of a difference, but I am sorry. I am so sorry. I wanted so badly to stay. I really did, but…"

"Then why didn't you?" Julie asked, sounding not exactly angry or hurt, but curious.

"I…" William faltered, seemingly unsure of how to address Julie. "I… couldn't. There were so many things weighing on your mother's and my marriage. And I… I was… scared."

Spencer looked unsurprised by the admission, though Alex and Julie seemed more phased. "After I left I thought… _I'll just stay away for a few days… get my bearings_… even though I told myself I was leaving and I left that letter, even I didn't believe… but after those few days, I was just… too terrified to return. The longer I stayed away, the more I realized that I wasn't cut out for taking care of two children and my wife." William paused for a moment and looked undecided before he spoke again. "I came back one morning…"

This time, all three Reid children were surprised. "…When?" Spencer finally asked.

"Two weeks after I left… I went back one morning. Just to see. And… I saw you and Alex coming out of the house going to school. I followed you a little." William said, looking away from a moment. "Spencer… you walked Alex up to the elementary school and you handed him his lunch box and he gave you a hug and went in and then you walked to the high school and… you were both fine. You were clean and dressed and you had food and… everything was taken care of. I remember thinking that you really were better off without me… and I left."

Silence reigned over the room. Each sibling had a different expression flitting across their face. Spencer obviously wanted to say something but was struggling with the words- or maybe just struggling with how not to sound angry while saying them. William looked from face to face on the couch from his vantage point in the easy chair. "Alex," He said, addressing the sibling closest to him. "I look at you and I see the man you've become and I… wish I had been there to see it happen. I've only been here for less than an hour and already I can see how good you are with your family and how… good a person you've become."

Alex seemed somewhat dumbstruck, but nodded tersely and William turned to Julie, who was next on the couch. "Juliet… Julie. I… no words are good enough to tell you how incredibly sorry I am that I never got to meet you before now… that I wasn't there for you. You are such a beautiful young woman and I wish I had the right to call you my daughter. Maybe I can in the future."

Julie gave no sign that she had heard, but her eyes looked suspiciously glassy. "Spencer," William said to the last person on the couch. "You… you're amazing. I can't think of anything that sums you up better. Everything you've done, all the accomplishments you've made, how well you've done… I have no right to be proud of you- any of you- I suppose, but I am."

Spencer refused to meet his father's eye as the man turned to JJ, who was sitting by the couch in a kitchen chair. "And… I have no idea who you are." He said, brows drawing together in confusion.

There was a beat of surprised silence before Julie laughed- the surprised, slightly hysterical laugh of someone trying not to cry. JJ smiled tightly and stood up to walk across the living room, holding out here hand. "Jennifer Jareau, you can call me JJ. I'm a member of your son's team, and…"

"My girlfriend." Spencer suddenly cut in, seeming to just realize he had forgotten to introduce JJ.

"Really?" William's eyebrows went up as he shook JJ's hand. "For how long?"

"Almost three years." Spencer replied.

"_Well_," The older man replied, still seeming surprised. "It's very nice to meet you."

JJ nodded and smiled politely, giving William the impression his sentiments weren't reciprocated. As the young woman returned to her seat, the silence returned to the room. Taking a look around at the other occupants of the room, JJ realized that, even though there hadn't been yelling involved, this was not going well. Spencer looked as though he was overcoming his trouble with words and may have been about to start replying to William's words in a manner which included raised voices. Alex didn't look like he was too far behind Spencer. Julie, on the other hand, looked to be drawing into herself; her eyes were growing dark and JJ could see the wheels turning in her head as she chewed over her father's words. JJ knew from experience that she, too, was only a step away from anger. No, this was not going well at all. "You know what? I'm hungry. Could anyone else go for some food?" She asked, looking over at Spencer.

Spencer returned her look with one of confusion before he seemed to realize what she was trying to do. His eyes widened and he started to shake his head, but JJ ignored him. "Julie, why don't you and I go get something to eat?"

Looking confused again, Spencer turned and looked at Julie, whose head had snapped up at the use of her name. "Me?" She asked, looking from JJ to Spencer and back again.

"Yeah, c'mon." JJ said with false cheer. "I don't think we can trust these guys to pick something good, so we should go and get something… and maybe they'll have a chance to _talk_ while we're out."

JJ sent another meaningful look towards Spencer and he abruptly began to nod. "Yeah, why don't you two go get… ah, food." He said, turning back to Julie.

"Oh… okay." Julie nodded as well and stood up to leave. "Any requests?"

"No, I'll eat just about anything." Alex replied.

"No Chinese." Spencer said, the ghost of a smile playing across his face.

Everyone turned expectantly to William, who looked rather bemused. "Anything is fine with me." He said quietly.

With that, JJ and Julie exited the apartment and got into JJ's car, where there was peaceful silence for a short time. "Thank you." Julie said finally. "I know what you were doing… and thanks."

JJ smiled wryly, glancing at Julie before bringing her eyes back to the road. "I got the feeling things were about to get a lot louder and I thought maybe you'd want to get out of there."

"Yeah…"

"Hey, are you doing okay?" JJ asked, reaching over and putting a hand on Julie's shoulder.

"I… I want to be so… _angry_ with him, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know… he's my dad. I kinda feel like I should just be grateful he's here."

"Julie… you can be angry at him. In fact, I think you have every right to be angry. He left, he wronged you and Spence and Alex." JJ paused. "Not that I normally encourage people to lose their tempers, but it's not healthy to keep stuff like that bottled up. So you can be angry… you don't have to forgive him."

"You… think so?"

"I know so. Spence and Alex are way ahead of you, anyway."

"Yeah… we should probably pick somewhere to eat and get back before they kill each other…" Julie replied with a small laugh.

"Probably." JJ agreed.

-/\-

Back at the apartment, things weren't quite to the point of murder, but William was sure the pressure was going to crush him soon. The girls had been gone a little over 10 minutes and no one had said a word. "Spencer…" He started to address his oldest son.

"Did you think that coming here and making speeches would fix everything?" Spencer cut in so suddenly that William winced slightly.

"No, I…"

"Did you think that you could apologize and make it all better?" Spencer said over him.

Spencer had tried being cordial, but Julie was gone and one look at Alex told him that if he hadn't started yelling, his brother would have. "I just wanted to give you my reasons, I…" William tried again.

"You can't justify leaving us… If it hadn't been for the neighbors and Spencer, Child Services would have taken us away! How could you possibly think we were better off without you?" Alex suddenly jumped in, standing up off the couch.

"I thought…"

"What, exactly, _were_ you thinking when you left two children and their sick mother to fend for themselves?" Spencer interjected, also having stood up off the couch as Alex did. "Were you thinking of anything but _yourself_?"

"Do you think I haven't thought of all of this already?" William shouted, standing up as well. "Do you think I haven't berated myself for the past 16 years? I have gone over every possible argument, accusation and insult in my head again and again! I know… I know I'll never be redeemed in your eyes but I just wanted to see you three… some of the only good things I've done with my life, even if I managed to screw that up too!"

All was silent as Spencer and Alex glared and William and he glared right back. "This was a bad idea." William said finally. "I should just go."

It took Spencer all of two seconds to lurch forward and grab his father's arm as the man attempted to leave the room. "_Wait_. You're talking about redemption? Fine. _Stay here_. Don't run off as soon as things get hard. You especially can't just walk out while Julie's gone. Stay for the meal, say good bye." Spencer said quietly, his voice dark as he tightened his grip almost painfully on William's arm. "_Prove_ you deserve a second chance."

The tension was thick enough to hinder someone trying to walk through it as the two Reids stared at each other when the sound of the front door opening came from the hallway. The two men jumped apart and returned to their seats, as did Alex. Julie and JJ came walking into the room with bags from an Indian place a few blocks away and all the inhabitants of the room managed an awkward smile. "Hey, welcome back." William said with attempted cheer.

Julie glared in his direction but did reply, taking the bags into the kitchen instead. JJ, however, put on the calm face she wore when facing the media and nodded. "Did you guys have a chance to talk?"

"Yeah, we did." Spencer said, standing up and walking over to her. "Thank you."

JJ gripped his hand tightly and managed not to wince at how tightly he was unconsciously squeezing back. "Good. Let's eat, then."

William, Alex and Spencer nodded readily and headed for the kitchen where the sounds of Julie unpacking the food could be heard.

Dinner was, by no means, a pleasant affair. It was awkward and quiet, but William stayed, there was no shouting, and Spencer, Alex and JJ managed to hide their amused looks at the cold, sarcastic replies Julie was giving to all of her father's questions. By the end of it, everyone seemed ready to drop from the amount of energy they had to exert trying to keep their cool. "I think, maybe, it's time I headed back to my hotel." William said as everyone was cleaning up the remnants of dinner, glancing over at Spencer.

The eldest Reid child nodded. "I think that's a good idea."

"It was good to see you all. I'll just… say goodbye." Was all William managed before he left.

As the man headed back out to his rental car, he supposed the evening could have gone worse- there had been no bloodshed, at least. He pulled the key out of his pocket and moved to unlock the car, but a shout stopped him. "Hey!" He turned and saw Julie jogging towards him.

"Julie…"

"Hey, uh… Dad, I guess…" She said with a slight shrug of confusion, ignoring William's wince. "I just… I needed to say something."

William nodded and waited expectantly. "I never felt like you were missing, you know." Julie started out. "Mom and Spencer and Alex have their issues, but they're good to me and they love me. And I love them. I have a good life without you."

Gaping slightly, William scrambled for a response. "I… understand…"

"_But_," Julie continued, "That's not to say that… I'm not glad you're out there. Maybe there isn't a hole in my life where you should be, but… I… it was just… good to meet you."

The girl managed a small, genuine smile for the man and held something out to him. "We may all be angry at you, but I thought maybe you'd want this. It's something for you to work towards."

As soon as William's fingers gripped the slip of paper she held out, Julie was gone, jogging back to the apartment building. He looked down at what his daughter had handed him and was looking at the back of a photo, labeled _Thanksgiving, 2007_, and when he flipped it over, he couldn't help but smile.

In the photo, Spencer, Alex and JJ were sitting on a couch. JJ was sitting on one side of Spencer, her fingers intertwined with his as she smiled at the camera. Spencer himself looked thinner, but completely happy; he was really smiling in the picture, something William hadn't seen in over 16 years. Alex was on the other side, grinning widely and holding rabbit-ears halfway behind Spencer's head as his brother elbowed him in the ribs, presumably in an attempt to make him stop. Julie was standing behind the three of them, leaning on the couch between Spencer and Alex. It looked as though she was almost laughing.

It was undeniably imperfect, but William had to admit, it seemed like a damned good goal to him.

-/\-

A/N: Yee gads! That was ridiculously difficult to write! There was so flipping much to incorporate without making it seem as though I was writing while drugged and/or easily distracted… I really hope I succeeded in making something coherent… I'd REALLY love to know what you guys think… please?

Also, thank you so much to you super-awesome-nifty reviewers! CRIMINAL-MINDS-FANZ, donttouch, clt, daisyangel, cmwinner, Eriks angel 15, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, , criminalminds99, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, RockerChild1987, SlasherrGirl, Noel Ardnek, Laura Beth loves Jesus, Hopeful Writer, angeleyes46, lallymoon, softxdxlllxball, hudson911, Red K 5, and mcskywalker, you all rock quite a lot (22 people is definitely my new record for a chapter)! Everyone who has added this to their alerts and favorites also rocks!


	33. Overwhelmed

Family

A/N: Hello, all! Well, when I started writing this, I wanted it to be sweet and cute… a nice break from all the dramatic stuff that's been going on and _will_ be going on in the near future. Instead, I got some sort of hut/comfort thing… but we finally get a memory from Julie's perspective which is something I _actually meant to do_. So, yeah… enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or a college (be cool if I did, though). Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 33: Overwhelmed

Episode: Masterpiece

Another case well-won and SSAs Jareau and Dr. Reid were relaxing the living room of the Reids' apartment. Though it had been a stressful one, cases rarely ended better than the way today's had. They had even made it home with enough time to have dinner, which is why, as they relaxed, they debated about the evening meal. "I still say it's your turn to cook something." Spencer said, glancing over at JJ.

"And _I_ say I don't want to. I really don't like cooking much." JJ replied lightly.

"You're a good cook, why don't you like doing it?" Spencer asked.

"Because being a good cook and liking to cook don't always go hand in hand. Alex likes to cook, but I'm pretty sure I would have gotten food poisoning if I'd actually eaten the last thing he cooked…"

"Hey! I heard that." Alex said as he walked into the room.

"…And I mean that in the most affectionate possibly way." JJ continued with a small smile.

"Uh huh." Alex nodded. "Well, that's actually why I'm in here, anyway…"

Alex's explanation was interrupted by Julie as she came into the room and sat down on the couch by JJ. "Are we doing anything about the dinner-type thing?" She inquired.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Alex said.

JJ rolled her eyes. "Nothing attracts teenagers like food."

"Hey, now, I'm not a teenager anymore. I'm over 20." Alex argued.

"If you're in your twenties, why can't you feed yourself?" Spencer asked wryly. "This isn't enhancing my faith in your ability to fend for yourself once you move out."

"I am perfectly capable of caring for myself," The younger man replied snootily, "I just like it when I don't have to."

Spencer shook his head but didn't reply and the room remained silent. After a few minutes of staring, however, Julie spoke up. "Maybe, if no one's going to make a move to cook something, we should just get some fast food?"

"Capital idea. Who's going to get it, though?" Alex asked.

"Hm… I nominate the menfolk." Julie declared, glancing over at JJ.

"Now _that's_ a good idea." JJ agreed, turning her smile on Spencer and Alex. "Boys?"

"Why do we have to go get it?" Spencer asked, sitting up in his seat.

"Because Julie and I went last time." JJ replied.

"Yeah, but you two just wanted to get out of the house…"

"Still, a food-run's a food-run." JJ waved off Spencer's argument and fixed a flirtatious smile in place. "Please?"

Eyeing JJ warily, Spencer sighed. "Alright, fine."

"What? You're just going to cave, just like that?" Alex asked incredulously.

"Yes, and if you want food, you'd better come with me and give me a hand." Spencer replied as he stood up.

Alex heaved a longsuffering sigh, but got up to follow his brother. The girls heard Spencer's call of "We'll be back," before the door slammed behind him and Alex, prompting JJ and Julie to laugh. "Something Morgan once told me… you have Spencer wrapped around your finger." Julie said with a light giggle.

"Well, even geniuses are susceptible a woman's charms…" JJ replied thoughtfully

"Only yours I hope." Julie added.

"I think he's kind of oblivious to pretty much everyone else, anyway. But there is one thing I can do that _always_ gets his attention…" The woman began, only to be cut off.

"I believe we are veering off into the land of things I don't wanna hear." Julie interrupted quickly.

JJ laughed a little. "Sorry… I think I've been spending a little too much time around Garcia…" She paused to think for a moment. "But, you know, I realized something about Spence today."

"Is this revelation going to make me uncomfortable?" Julie asked carefully.

"No, I don't think so," JJ replied with a small smile. "It's just… on the case today… I was reminded of how _smart_ he is…"

"Well, yeah, he's a genius."

"I mean… well, we all just kind of get used to the title and we take the fact that he's genius for granted, but, occasionally, something reminds us and it's just kind of… wow. I wonder how he deals with it sometimes. Every time I ask him, though, he just says… he does."

Julie nodded. "I'm not really sure he knows… I mean, _I'm _definitely not a genius, but I'm… _smart_, I guess, and I've asked him how to cope with getting overwhelmed and he told me a few things that he's tried, but none of them seem to work for him. He just kinda seems to… work. And when he doesn't, Alex or I help. I can still remember the first time I noticed it happening, actually."

"_Spencer?" Julie called through the closed door, knocking for good measure. "Are you in there?"_

_When no answer came, Julie sighed and fiddled with the deck of cards in her hands. In her opinion, Spencer had been far too high-strung lately and he needed to calm down before he exploded, or something of an equally troubling nature. It was nearing his birthday, after all, and everyone had to be happy on their birthday. It was some sort of law. So, when Julie knocked on her brother's bedroom door a third time, she knocked with more determination. "I know you're in there!" She called._

_Finally, there was a muffled response. "Julie, please… just- go away, I'm busy."_

_Julie almost turned to obey, shoulders slumping in defeat, when she heard something else from within the room that made her pause. Putting her ear to the door, she could hear it more clearly; it was definitely muttering. Spencer's tone rose and fell and gained volume before becoming quiet again and it sounded almost like he was holding a conversation… with no one._

_And, somehow, Julie found that this scared her. Even at the age of seven- almost eight, really- she knew her mother was sick. Talking to people who weren't there, hearing voices, accusing people of doing things that didn't even make sense, it wasn't normal. And now Spencer was talking to himself…_

_After a minute or two of debating, Julie made up her mind- she had to see what was wrong. Tentatively, she placed her hand on the knob and opened the door slowly. "Spencer?" She asked, quietly this time._

_As she entered the room, she could see Spencer sitting at his desk, moving things back and forth and still mumbling. "…two research papers, my term paper… I have to contract the journal publisher again… Did I pack those things for Mom? No…"_

_Glancing over the desk, Julie saw it was a sort of methodical mess. There was a stack of text books, a pile of folders, masses of papers here and there, which Spencer was straightening. He put a pile of papers down when they had been aligned, only to pick them back up again and redistribute everything. A folder here, a handful of papers went inside of it, a book there with another handful of papers, which there seemed to be quite a few of. Julie caught sight of a textbook with numbers on the front- presumably some sort of math book- and then a form filled out with Spencer's hurried handwriting. She caught sight of the word "Bennington" at the top before Spencer moved the paper to the other side of his desk, but she had no idea what that meant. "Spencer…" She said again, a little louder._

"_What__? What is it, Julie?" Spencer snapped loudly, whirling around in his chair to face the girl._

_Julie jumped back slightly, drawing her arms into herself. "Sorry…" She whispered, looking away._

_Spencer's eyes widened when he realized what he'd done. "No, I… I'm sorry," He told her._

_The teen stood up to walk over to Julie, causing his sister to flinch at the sudden action. "Oh, no… no, please don't- don't be scared of me," Julie swore she could just about hear his heart break as he said the words, kneeling down in front of her. "I'm not angry at you, please don't ever be scared of me… I'm sorry…"_

_It only took a matter of seconds for the girl to realize this was a person in need of hug if she ever saw one. Stepping forward to where her brother was kneeling, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he reciprocated quickly, his long arms locking around her back. "I'm so sorry… Please don't be scared of me, I'll always be here for you Alex, okay? Don't ever doubt that- I'll be here for you…"_

"_Spencer, are you okay?" Julie asked wiggling out of his grip enough to look at his face._

_He looked tired and worn and much older than someone who was about to turn 18. The question seemed to surprise him and he released her, sitting back on his heels and looking rather dazed. "I- yeah… I'm alright. I'm just… a little overwhelmed right now. Really overwhelmed right now, actually."_

"_By what?" The girl inquired, sitting down on the floor across from him._

"_School… work…" He paused. "Other things, too."_

_Seeming to put a large amount of thought into what Spencer had said, Julie fell silent for a time. Just when Spencer was about to ask what it was she had needed when she first came in, she sprang up from her seat. "C'mon!" She said, grabbing Spencer's hand and tugging him out of his sitting position._

"_Hold on, what're you doing?" Spencer asked, managing to get up off the floor as Julie dragged him along._

"_You'll see." Was the only answer Julie offered._

_Spencer sighed but allowed himself to be towed through the house, stooping to allow his sister- little more than half his height- to hold on to his hand as they went. Finally, they arrived at their destination. "Julie, why are we in the living room?"_

"_Sit down," Julie instructed before adding after a second of thought, "Please."_

_Still slightly bewildered, Spencer did as he was told and watched as his little sister marched over to the cabinet where they kept the video tapes, pulled one out, and put it in the VCR. "We're going to watch a movie." She told him as she sat down, as though it wasn't obvious._

_Spencer recognized the Disney logo as the video started. "Julie, I don't have time to watch a movie, I'm sorry…" He moved to stand up, but Julie grabbed his sleeve._

"_No, you need to relax!" She commanded, catching him off balance and pulling him back onto the couch. "Please?"_

_With the full force of the seven-year-old's pleading stare on him, Spencer found it difficult to say no. "Alright… one movie. __One__."_

"_Deal." Julie replied with a grin._

_They sat through the commercials and the beginning of __The Lion King__ and every time Spencer attempted to point out some inaccuracy, Julie would tell him to hush and to "just watch!"_

_Later, when Alex came down and asked why, exactly, they were watching __The Lion King__, he received the same treatment and sat down on the couch with shrug. When the movie was over, it took little coercion to get Spencer to watch another, and by the time the night was through, the three of them had completely exhausted their stock of Disney movies. However, Julie felt confident that, whatever was overloading Spencer's mind so much, it had gone away._

"Of course, I didn't find out until a couple weeks later what was stressing him out the most…" Julie told JJ.

JJ nodded in understanding. "So he's always had a tendency to overload himself, huh?"

"I think that's actually kind of a Reid family curse…"

"Hm…" JJ paused and tried to think of something to lighten the mood. "So what about his sense of humor? That's not chronic too, is it?"

Julie smiled. "Why do you ask?"

JJ repeated what Rossi had said when asked about the recruitment seminar after the case was over, and how not even the crickets had chirped at Spencer's joke. Julie laughed. "He didn't tell the one about the existentialists, did he?"

"I think so…" JJ replied, stifling a laugh.

"Oh, God…"

"Well, it can't be as bad as his physics jokes," JJ said, finally allowing a few giggles to escape.

Julie began to laugh as well. "Oh, yeah… I'll take existentialists over physicists…"

The comment, or perhaps the opportunity to release the stress of the day, only served to make JJ laugh harder, which consequently furthered Julie's laughter, until they were laughing so hard they barely noticed Spencer and Alex come back in with bags of food. "What's so funny?" Spencer asked, quirking an eyebrow at them.

Both girls quieted for a moment, looked up at Spencer, and dissolved into giggles once more. "What?" Spencer asked incredulously, beginning to blush slightly and looking more confused than ever. "_What?_"

"It's- it's nothing!" Julie squeezed out between bursts of giggles.

Shaking his head, Spencer retreated to the kitchen with a call of "I'm on one of the best profiling teams in the country and I don't think I'll ever understand either of you."

-/\-

A/N: Well, that's it… I believe this story is beginning to get out from under my control… this was supposed to be a rather short chapter and there wasn't supposed to be any angst… but it just wouldn't listen to me! Oh, well… hope you guys enjoyed! Next up is "Conflicted" which probably will be shorter…

Thank you very much to all the people who have reviewed! lallymoon, donttouch, Skyler1510, Noel Ardnek, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, clt, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, Eriks angel 15, Hopeful Writer, criminalminds99, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, RockerChild1987, and xXxFailingDreamsxXx, you guys are all awesome! Thank you, also to everyone who has put this in their alerts and favorites!


	34. Someone's Responsibility

Family

A/N: It would appear as though we've reached a point in the story where things are just gonna be dramatic and sorta angsty for a bit. After this one, there's "Amplification" and then "Faceless, Nameless" and "100" but after that, things get shamelessly fluff-tastic. This one will be a bit short, but we've got a string of long-ish ones coming up, so I hope that makes up for this! Enjoy!...?

Also, I'd like to thank you all for your patience with this story… I ran out of my asthma meds earlier this week and have been dealing with that, hence the lateness. I will try harder to keep up with updates in the future… hopefully I'll be successful!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 34: Someone's Responsibility

Episode: Conflicted

Spencer sighed as he clicked through his bookmarked links. He had, of course, memorized every scrap of information he could get his hands on years ago, but he couldn't stop himself from going over it all again. He pulled up his "_Case-Related_" bookmarks- an extensive folder with many subdivisions- and went to a folder at the bottom of the list. It was nameless, but he knew exactly what it was. It held all the online information he could find on Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Before his kidnapping, he'd read quite a lot about it already; it was an interesting subject and many people seemed to associate the disorder with schizophrenia. However, after Henkle, he'd soaked up any information he could on multiple personalities. He had wanted to know if there was anything- _anything_ he could have done to help Tobias… or at least to not have had to shoot him. Now there was someone else he needed to help. Adam wasn't dead and he deserved a chance at the life Amanda was denying him.

As he searched, Spencer registered the sound of someone entering the room. Many people seemed to think he went off into this own universe when he studied, but it was really the opposite. Any noises that weren't related to his studies were interruptions and easily noticed. He could feel someone walk right up behind his desk chair and stop. "Shouldn't you be doing something more productive than looking over my shoulder?" Spencer asked, knowing the question was generic enough to catch either sibling.

"I'm taking a break from productivity."

Alex, then. "Ah." Spencer replied.

"Didn't you look up, like, everything published on multiple personality disorder two years ago, after…" Alex trailed off.

"It's been two years. There may have been new break-throughs, new advances…"

"This isn't your job." Alex cut in.

"What?" Spencer turned around in his desk chair to look at Alex for the first time since he'd entered the room.

"You're supposed to catch the bad guys. It's not your job to stay after the fact and hold their hands."

Spencer stared at Alex for a moment. "It's my _job_ to help people. A- he didn't do anything wrong, technically…"

"He _killed_ people, Spencer!" Alex said incredulously.

"His other personality killed people. He was abused through his whole childhood and his mind created a way to protect itself."

"_We_ didn't have the easiest childhood, either, and _we_ didn't go crazy. Neither of us stared _murdering_ people."

"He deserves the chance to _live_. Or at least the chance to be judged on what _he's_ done and not what this person inside him has done. He wasn't the one committing those murders… and he's trapped inside his head and he deserves to have his life back!" Spencer stood as he spoke. "I- I can't just ignore that…"

There was a beat of tense silence. "It's not your job, Spencer. And if you keep taking everything so personally, I think you're going to suffocate."

"I don't take everything personally, it's just…"

"It's just cases with schizophrenics, and bullied teenagers and abused kids and the overlooked and misunderstood people who just get pushed off the deep end… face it, there's a lot of chances for you to empathize."

Opening his mouth to reply and then shutting it again, Spencer slumped back down in his chair. He wanted to be angry with his brother, but, on some level, Alex was right. Spencer was so good at his job because he was so close to what the UnSubs were. One twist in his life and he could have been on the other side of the law. And, he had to admit, it was exhausting sometimes. And yet… "I still… I have to help him…"

"He's in a mental hospital, isn't he?" Alex asked, sounding exasperated.

"Yes, but…"

"Then let them do their job and help him. You don't have to help him." Alex softened his tone slightly. "You can't take care of everyone."

"I don't take care of everyone." Spencer attempted.

Alex let out a short laugh. "But you want to."

Spencer didn't reply this time and Alex sat down in Julie's desk chair. "It's… dangerous and we don't get to see you as often as we should and, really, I should probably be the last person pulling for you to stay at the BAU, but… you love it. It makes you happy. And if you keep doing things like this, you're going to burn out."

Sighing, Spencer leaned forward on the desk. "I know that. But… I feel like this is my chance. I can make up for…" Pausing, Spencer shook his head. "I…"

Alex leaned over and closed the window Spencer had been looking at. "It's not your fault."

"What isn't, exactly?" Spencer asked wryly.

"Nothing you think is… whatever you're thinking, it's probably not your fault."

"If you don't even know what I'm thinking about, you can't possibly know whether or not it's my fault."

"I know you're thinking about a case, and I know none of those could possibly be a result of something you did… unless you have a time machine or something."

Spencer considered this for a moment. "It still feels like my fault."

"I know."

Neither brother said another word, but simply sat quietly for a while. Alex watched as Spencer stared blankly at the computer screen and could see the internal battle raging inside his head. It was frustrating there seemed to be nothing Alex could say that would convince Spencer of his innocence, but he hoped in time he could at least make some headway. Spencer wasn't the only stubborn one, after all.

-/\-

A/N: Well, there it is… another chapter on the books… erm, no pun intended, I guess. Uh… hope you enjoyed, despite the lack of length. "Amplification" is up next and that ought to be longer! (I'm not really sure how I could make it short…)

Hugely thanking donttouch, clt, SSAFunbar, lallymoon, 1xadzy3dgftw1xLSNx3dg1xMGG, Eriks angel 15, Daiseyangel, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, softxdxlllxball, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, Noel Ardnek, Laura Beth loves Jesus, Hopeful Writer, RockerChild1987, jesusfreak100percent, and Red K 5 for your magical-type reviews! Thank you as well to everyone who has added this to their alerts and favorites!


	35. Standing Watch

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! I must be honest, I wasn't exactly looking forward to writing this one… it's sort of angst-ish. I hope you guys like it anyway, though! Plus- five chapters after this! Omygosh!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 35: Standing Watch

Episode: Amplification

Morgan looked over at Reid, who was laid out in the too-large looking hospital bed and, mercifully, asleep. As proud as Morgan was of Reid for declining anything to do with narcotics, he couldn't help wishing the man would take just a small dose. One look at the younger man's face as he went into a coughing fir was almost enough to break Morgan's resolve and try to talk him into taking the pain meds. It was a relief that the cure seemed to be coming along. At least, that was what Dr. Kimura had told Morgan when he'd arrived 45 minutes ago.

It had seemed to surprise Reid that it was Morgan who came first. He had reached up to pull the oxygen mask down a little and cleared his thought as best he could. "Freeze fly…" His face contorted in irritation. "Bees…"

Reid didn't get much further than that before succumbing to a fit of coughing. Morgan was unable to do anything as he watched his friend cough until he saw the flecks of red begin to appear on his hand. "Okay, Reid, easy…" He stepped forward and replaced the oxygen mask gently. "Relax, just breath."

After a few moments of raspy wheezing, Reid quieted and Morgan had sat down in the chair by the bed. "We got the guy. You were right about Nichols having a student. You were also right about the cure. Not even anthrax can slow you down, huh?" Morgan asked. He received a blink in return and continued speaking. "Dr. Kimura said the cure would be ready soon. You and all the others will be better real soon."

Reid nodded slightly as Morgan became quiet. After a moment, resisting the uncharacteristic urge to fidget under Reid's stare, Morgan had spoken to fill the silence. "JJ wanted to be here, but she can't come until all our _visitors_ leave." Morgan hesitated before continuing. "She told me to give you her love… and if you tell anyone I did, you'll have more than anthrax to worry about, Kid."

There had been a small grin on Morgan's face as he delivered the threat, showing there was no real heat to it, and Reid had made a short "hm" noise which Morgan took as laughter. Shortly thereafter, the younger man had fallen asleep.

Now, half an hour after those events, Morgan was keeping vigil over his friend. He had made no move yet to remove his jacket or settle in. It was as though he was still trying to be ready for action, even though there was little left for him to do but wait.

Another half hour passed and Morgan was roused out of his meditative state of readiness by the sound of high-heeled shoes clicking into the room. Looking up, he saw JJ approaching the hospital bed. A hand came up to cover her mouth at she came to stop next to Morgan and her eyes roamed the prone form of her friend and lover in the bed. "He's been asleep for about an hour now. The doctor said the cure should be ready soon." Morgan updated her quietly.

JJ nodded mutely before taking her hand away from her face. "I- I should call Alex and Julie and…" She began, but trailed off when Reid shifted under all the tubes and wires and then opened his eyes.

Once he had managed to focus, Reid's eyes went to Morgan first and then came to rest on JJ. 'Hey, Spence," JJ said in a quiet, falsely cheery voice.

"I'll give you guys a minute and go make that call." Morgan said, standing up out of the chair by the bed.

Locking eyes with him for a moment, JJ dug out her cell phone and handed it to Morgan. "The number's in my contacts. Thank you." She said with all sincerity as she sank into the chair Morgan had vacated and took one of Reid's hands.

Morgan nodded and headed out of the room. He could hear JJ speaking just before he moved out of earshot. "You have to stop doing this to us, Spence…"

Heading outside to make the call, Morgan hoped the fresh air would help clear his head, even if he had to tell two people he liked that their brother, another person he very much liked, had landed himself in the hospital.

-/\-

It didn't take long after Morgan ended the call for Alex and Julie to show up at the hospital. He waited outside for them and led them inside when they arrived. As they headed down the hall to where Spencer was, Morgan attempted to explain the situation. "Listen, you should be ready for what you're gonna see in there." He started, "He's having trouble breathing, so he's hooked up to oxygen. There's also an IV…"

"What _happened_?" Alex demanded when they came to a halt outside a room. "He was fine this morning."

"I'm not exactly sure what the doctor called it." Morgan replied quickly. "He's also refusing any pain medication, so… he's not feeling that great."

Julie tugged at the hem of her t-shirt and refused to look up at Morgan. Alex, too, seemed uncomfortable, but eyed Morgan suspiciously for his lack of explanation. However, before he could ask another question, JJ appeared in the doorway of the room. "Hey, guys." She gave them a small, weary smile. "Come on in."

Thoughts of interrogation and explanation were dropped as Morgan, Alex and Julie followed JJ back into the room. "You just missed the doctor," She was saying as she walked back around the bed to the chair she'd vacated. "She gave him something…"

"Something?" Julie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't remember what she called it," JJ replied, smiling apologetically. "But she said he should start to improve soon."

Looking over at JJ, Morgan caught her meaningful glance and released a breath he had been holding since he saw the broken vial in Nichol's house. "So… he's going to be okay?" Julie asked tentatively.

JJ nodded. "That's what the doctor said. If he improved as quickly as they hope, they said they can even take the mask off within an hour or two."

Julie nodded, seeming relieved, but still a little confused. "So what _did_ happen?" She asked, glancing over the bed.

Morgan and JJ glanced at each other again and JJ decided to field the question. If anyone could make up a plausible story on the spot, it was her. "He actually told me he wasn't feeling well last night, either. He was just worse this morning…"

"He seemed _fine_ this morning, though." Alex interjected.

"You know how good Spence is at hiding when he's sick." JJ shook her head. "Anyway, he just seemed to get worse all day. We got a new case and he was really pushing himself… he had been coughing all day and then he just sort of collapsed."

Both siblings looked appropriately alarmed, but not entirely convinced of the truthfulness of the whole story. However, they let the subject drop. Instead, Alex settled into a chair by the wall and Julie dropped her purse next to him, though she made no move to sit down. Morgan knew it would probably be perfectly acceptable for him to go home at this point, but he wasn't too keen on letting Reid out of his sight just yet. He offered the last remaining to chair to Julie, who declined, and then sat down. The four occupants of the room not confined to hospital bed settled in for the long haul.

An hour later found Alex in the chair by the bed, sketching, JJ in the chair Alex had vacated, and Morgan and Julie on the floor playing a game of cards. It was then that the nurse came in carrying a piece of equipment. "You all seem to have made yourselves comfortable." She noted as she headed over to the bed.

"What's that for?" Alex asked, referring to what the nurse had been carrying.

"Nasal cannula. Dr. Reid's doing well enough to remove the oxygen mask now." The nurse replied, busying herself with Spencer's mask.

They all watched as she made the replacement and then turned to face them. "If you're waiting for him to wake up, you may be here for a bit, you know." She warned.

A collective shrug went around the room. "I don't think we mind that much." Julie said from her spot on the floor.

The nurse simply shrugged in return. "Alright. I'll be back in a while to check on things."

It was another two hours before much of anything interesting happened. The sun had gone down a while ago and the self-appointed Spencer-watchers had shifted around the room several times. Spencer himself had woken up once. Julie had been sitting by the bed at the time and when she noticed his eyes had opened, she stood up expectantly. He'd grimaced and then looked at Julie with a somewhat confused air about him, asking "Julie?"

Julie had smiled and given him a small wave. "Hi…"

And he had promptly fallen back to sleep. It had, admittedly, been something of a disappointment for everyone involved until Morgan mentioned the last time he'd seen Spencer awake. He had been able to speak properly this time around, which seemed like more of an improvement.

The nurse from before was now in the room, checking on things again. "He woke up earlier, you know." Julie mentioned.

"Really?" The nurse asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, for all of 60 seconds." Alex added.

Chuckling slightly, the nurse shook her head. "He'll be groggy for a while, you should probably get used to it."

Having completed her task, she turned to leave when the sound of someone's loudly growling stomach disturbed the silence of the room. Turning, she looked at the four visitors and Julie blushed. "Sorry. I haven't eaten in a while." The girl explained.

The nurse regarded them all and shook her head again. The two agents were disheveled and tired, the younger ones were beginning to look worn as well and at least one of the four was hungry. "You should all really go get something to eat. And get some rest." They all shifted uncomfortably and she sighed. "He's fine, you know. He's not going anywhere."

When no one made a move to leave, she rolled her eyes. "Stay here, I'll be back." She said, holding up a hand.

JJ, Morgan, Alex and Julie all glanced at each other. "She's right, we probably should get something to eat and get some rest. I can stay while you guys go."

"No, the last time I let Reid out of my sight…" Morgan began, before glancing over at the youngest occupants of the room. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Well what kind of siblings would we be if we left now?" Alex asked.

"Yeah. We didn't even know he was sick, we should stay. Besides you guys had a case today, you should rest." Julie added.

Once again, no one got up to leave and they appeared to have reached a stalemate. JJ was about to try again when the nurse returned, carrying four cups of Jell-O and some spoons. "These aren't an excuse not to eat something more substantial, mind you, but I think you'll all feel a little more reasonable after eating something." She said, passing the cups around. "Now, my shift is over in an hour. If all four of you are still here before I leave, I'll be forced to resort to drastic measures."

They all watched as the nurse turned to march out of the room and Julie managed to recover from her confused stupor with enough time to call "um… Thank you!" after her.

It was when they were all about half-way through their impromptu snacks that they heard someone speak. "Why are you all eating Jell-O?"

Quickly glancing around, the source of the voice was quickly revealed to be Spencer, who was simultaneously attempting to prop himself up on the bed and clutch his chest. "Is there anymore?" He asked, his voice scratchy and dry from coughing.

Everyone grinned at him. "You should probably wait a little while on that, Kid." Morgan replied, putting his Jell-O to the side.

"Hey, Spence," JJ said, getting up to stand by the bed. "You're going to be alright."

Spencer's eyes roamed around the room and came to rest on Alex and Julie. "What happened?" He asked, looking at JJ and Morgan.

"Don't you remember? You haven't been feeling well. You were pushing yourself on the case and you collapsed." JJ filled him in.

The genius looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on him. "Uh- right. I remember now." He said, almost convincingly.

There was a tense silence and Spencer finally gave up on sitting up and laid back down. "I… probably have some sort of respiratory infection."

"Right," Alex rolled his eyes. "Well, whatever really happened, we're glad you're going to be okay."

The eldest Reid looked guilty for a moment, but managed a weak smile for the small collection of people. "Thank you."

-/\-

The next day, only Julie and Alex were in the room with Spencer when Garcia came bustling in with a balloon in one hand and a small pot of flowers in the other. "Hey, how's my genius doing?" She asked with a cheerful smile.

"Good… did you bring those for me?" Spencer asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"No, I brought them for my other hospitalized friend who I'm going to visit after you. Yes, of course they're for you!" Garcia exclaimed. "Yeesh, are you sure it was a _respiratory_ infection you got and not some IQ-sapping sickness?"

Spencer blushed slightly. "I just wanted to be sure… thank you."

"Sure thing, sweet pea." Garcia replied, arranging the gifts on a table by the window. "And I don't want to hear that you've killed that plant, do you hear me?"

"Then you probably shouldn't have brought it to me…" Spencer said with no trace of kidding.

"Nonsense, it'll be fine. And if it's not, Julie'll tell me, right?" Garcia asked, looking in the youngest Reid's direction.

"Sure." Julie nodded, grinning.

"Oh, sure, go ahead and rat me out. My own sister. I knew it was a bad idea to let you spend so much time with Garcia." Spencer lamented.

"I can't help it, she has better bribes than you." Julie shrugged, still smiling.

Spencer rolled his eyes but joined the others in a small laugh, which resulted in a small attack of coughing. "Hey, hey, hey! Are you alright?" Garcia asked, placing a hand on his shoulder and fixing him with a worried look.

Alex and Julie also appeared worried, though they were slightly more used to the outbursts than Garcia. Spencer nodded, rubbing his sore chest. "I'm okay." He said, though Garcia didn't look convinced. "They tell me that they'll let me out of here as soon as I stop doing that."

"Well, see that you do." The tech admonished. "And I'm afraid I have to be going, but if they haven't cut you loose by tonight, I'll be back, okay?"

Spencer nodded and Garcia leaned down to wrap him in a tight hug. She jumped back slightly when he made a hiss of discomfort. "Sorry!"

"It's okay, I'm just… sore." He said, clutching at his chest again and clearing his throat.

Garcia frowned and gave him a much gentler hug. "Get better." She told him quietly.

She released him and turned to leave the room. "Garcia," Spencer called after her and fixed her with a meaningful stare when she turned back. "Thank you. For everything."

The woman looked slightly confused for a moment, but suddenly seemed to understand. "Anytime, Reid." She said seriously, before exiting the room and leaving a confused Alex and Julie behind.

-/\-

Back in her office at Quantico, Garcia hit the button that would play the recording she'd made yesterday back to her.

"_Are you ready?"_ Reid's voice came out of her speakers, a little shaky, but strong.

"_Ready."_ Her own voice came through, quiet and tense.

"_Hi, Mom, this is Spencer. I just, um, really want you to know that I love you and…"_ A pause to clear his throat. _"I need you to know that I spend every day of my life proud to be your son."_ Another pause as he seemed to think for a moment. _"Alex, Julie, I can't begin tell you two how much I love you. You both mean so much to me and you need to know that… And JJ, I love you so, so much. Please don't ever forget that, or doubt that…"_

There is a long pause and then her voice comes through again. _"Reid?"_

"_I gotta go."_ His voice is rushed this time and then the line goes dead.

Even though Garcia had heard him make the recording only yesterday, her screens blurred slightly as tears pricked behind her eyes again. Her mouse hovered between the button that would delete the recording and the one that would store it away in her endless files. Surely he won't ever need it again…

_Then why are you saving it?_ Garcia asked herself as she hit the 'save' button.

-/\-

A/N: Yee gads! That's long! And… wow… not my best work, I don't think… the end there is why I was dreading it. Sadness! But… I hope you guys liked it anyway. I had a lot of trouble deciding whether or not Reid would say something to JJ as well, but in the end, she made it into the recording. "Faceless, Nameless" is up next… probably won't be as long as this one, but it should be good! Um… yes, hope you enjoyed!

A big, huge thank you is going out to clt, Hopeful Writer, RockerChild1987, SSAFunbar, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, softxdxlllxball, SlasherrGirl, Noel Ardnek, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, Laura Beth loves Jesus, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, NegativeFan666, 67Chevy, and Red K 5 for your wonderful reviews! Thank you, also, to everyone who has added this to their alerts and favorites! You all are pretty darn awesome C=


	36. Okay

Family

A/N: Hello, everyone! Welcome to "Faceless, Nameless!" There's a fair bit of drama/angst-type-stuff in here… didn't come out exactly as I planned, but when does it ever? Um… yes, enjoy?

Ooh, by the way, I am putting out a call for ideas! I'm planning another story-ish thing for this universe which will basically be composed of oneshots. They will take place anywhere between Alex's birth and the present and cover just about anything (holidays, sickness, bonding moments, etc). If there are any situations you'd like to see that you haven't seen in here, PM me or tell me in a review! It might end up being written and you'll receive credit for your idea! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 36: Okay

Episode: Faceless, Nameless

Julie pulled into a parking space at the hospital and yanked the keys out of the ignition. She grabbed her purse and moved to get out of the car but faltered. _This shouldn't be happening again,_ she thought, staring up at the hospital. _This shouldn't be happening!_

She slammed the heel of her hand against the steering wheel and leaned her forehead against it. _The guy's a freaking __genius__, can't he go a __month__ without landing himself in the hospital?_ She wondered, then felt guilty for thinking it. She didn't even know how Spencer was doing and already she was angry. Of course, when JJ had called, she'd said it wasn't serious, but the worry was still there.

"I'm sure he's fine." Julie said to herself, getting out of the Volvo and shutting the door hard. "And once I make sure of that, a gunshot wound will be the least of his worries."

-/\-

Spencer shifted uncomfortably in the hospital bed he found himself once again confined to. He was getting rather tired of the hospital. However, if he was completely honest, he somewhat preferred the anthrax trip to this one at the moment. At least then, he'd been asleep- or unconscious, he wasn't quite sure which. Now, there was nothing shielding him from the pain but a large dose of Tylenol. Sleep didn't seem like much of an option and he was beginning to hope that someone- _anyone_, even a nurse- would come in and distract him from the mind-bending pain of torn muscle and splintered bone. Distract him from the fact that there was surgery and physical therapy in his future and that Hotch was somewhere else in this hospital, also in pain…

And there it was. The sound of familiar voices outside his room. One was JJ's and the other was Julie's. Spencer listened to see if Alex was out there too before he realized, squinting blearily at the clock, that his brother was most likely still at work.

JJ was probably telling Julie how he had gotten himself shot right now and then Spencer knew he was in for one three reactions: begrudging pride and relief (unlikely), disappointment (slightly more likely), or anger (most probable). He became convinced of the correctness of his evaluation when Julie stalked into the room. "What kind of idiot are you?" She demanded, pointing accusingly at him.

"I…" Spencer attempted before Julie cut him off.

"You _jumped_ in front of a bullet! Most people try to _avoid_ bullets, but on, no, not you! You jump _in front_ of them!" She said loudly, tossing her arms up.

"Julie, I _really_ don't want to argue with you right now…"

"Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to jump in front of a gun. I mean, what were you _thinking_?"

"I was _thinking_ about saving a man from _death_!" Spencer shouted in return, sitting up straighter. "I saved his life, that was my job. Now, as much as I'd like to discuss this, I'm in a _hell_ of a lot of pain and they're probably going to come in and poke at my gunshot wound soon. If you want to yell at me after that, be my guest."

Julie looked slightly taken aback and Spencer almost felt bad for shouting. If the pain hadn't been clouding many of his thoughts, he probably would have made it all the way to guilty. "I'm not denying that what you did is… _heroic_, I guess, but… did you think about us at all before you did it? Me? Mom? Alex? JJ? The team? _Anyone_?" Julie paused and took a deep breath. "You- you never seem to think these things through. There are a lot of people who want you to stick around, you know…"

When Spencer saw the tears well up in the corners of his sister's eyes, he really did feel guilty. "Julie…"

Julie shook her head and rushed out, brushing past JJ as the woman walked in. "Spence?" JJ looked after the retreating teenager and then at the genius in the hospital bed.

"I- I can't go after her…" Spencer shifted as though he was trying to get up and looked pleadingly at JJ, who nodded.

"I'll go." She said, turning to leave the room.

"Thank you." Spencer breathed gratefully as she left.

-/\-

JJ caught up to Julie just as the girl made it out the nearest exit. "Julie, wait." JJ said, placing her hand on the teen's shoulder.

Julie whirled around, surprising JJ and revealing the tears still in her eyes. "It's not fair!" She said angrily.

JJ was silent as she let the girl continue. "I feel so… childish for thinking that, but… but it's not! He's not an FBI agent," She sniffled. "He's my brother… My nerdy, gangly, sketching, cooking… bookworm… mothering _big brother_… I don't want him to die!"

A sob finally escaped her lips as JJ pulled her into a hug and held her close. She continued to allow the emotion flow as the woman rubbed her back slightly. "Shh… shh… it'll be okay…"

"How can you say that?" Julie asked incredulously, pulling back to look up at JJ. "It can't be okay…"

"No, it _will_ be okay." JJ replied, gently leading Julie to a nearby bench. "I know it's hard… it's _so_ hard to lose someone you love. It is."

Julie noted the flicker of sadness that passed across JJ's eyes before the woman continued. "But you can't think about it. You have to think of now. Spence is still here and he's not going anywhere."

"I… I know. But I just… I want to be selfish and… make him stop being an idiot." Julie replied with a small, hysterical laugh.

JJ smiled sympathetically. "I know. Me too." She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "It's hard. Love is selfish. But, sometimes, if you love someone, you have to let them do what makes them happy."

"Even if it means letting them jump in front of bullets?"

"Unfortunately, yes." JJ replied with a small, humorless laugh. "But it _will_ be okay. Okay?"

Julie nodded. "Okay."

The two sat there for a little while, taking time to soak in the events of day. "Hey, what time is it?" Julie finally asked.

"Almost five." JJ said, looking at her watch.

"Wow. I need to go get Alex from work." Julie said, standing up.

"Are you alright to drive?" JJ asked, eyeing the teen carefully.

"I'm not happy, but I'll be okay."

"Alright, see you later."

With a nod, Julie set off in the direction of the parking space.

-/\-

Back in his room, Spencer looked up expectantly when JJ returned. "She was pretty upset, but I convinced her everything would be okay." She filled him in. "She went to pick up Alex."

Spencer nodded. "Thank you…" He paused, seeming undecided for a moment. "I… I am sorry. I know it doesn't mean much, but I am… And I'll try so hard to make up for it, I…"

JJ silenced him quickly by placing a finger on his lips and then replacing it with a kiss. "I told her everything would be okay." She whispered, kissing him deeply again. "Don't you dare make me a liar, Spencer Reid."

Nodding, Spencer let his forehead come to rest against JJ's. "Okay."

-/\-

A/N: Yes, there was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it reference to JJ's sister in here (mentioned in "Risky Business"). But, anyway, I hope you guys liked it! The next chapter is "100" and it's the last episode-oriented chapter! After that, it's basically shameless fluff… yeah. Um… a review would be wonderful if you feel like it!

Speaking of which, thank you so very much to clt, cmwinner, Eriks angel 15, Laura Beth loves Jesus, Daisyangel, Slasherrgirl, thatsrebeccatoyou, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, creative-writing-girl13, Jaye Black, SSAFunbar, Noel Ardnek, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, Hopeful Writer, 67Chevy, and Red K 5 for your fantastic reviews! You guys are amazing! And so are the people who have added this to their alerts and favorites!


	37. Selfish Togetherness

Family

A/N: Hullo, all! Well, we've reached 100. I've only seen this episode once and that was back when it first aired… I apologize for any inconsistencies with the actual episode, but I did the best I could and tried to be a little ambiguous… I hope you all still enjoy!

Hey, fun fact to distract you from possible un-canon-ness!: Originally, I was going to call this story "Siblings." However, I decided that wasn't good and changed it to "The Reid Family." I was rather displeased with that too… eventually I settled on just, plain "Family." And now you know! (not that you really wanted to).

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design. I made up the "Chop Master 3000."

-/\-

Chapter 37: Selfish Togetherness

Episode: 100

The car ticked as the heated air began to cool around the two occupants. JJ and Spencer sat in the parking lot of the Reid's apartment building, JJ in the driver's seat and Spencer in the passenger's, neither one saying a word. Neither was really sure what could be said. Today had been Hell, for Hotch especially, and nothing anyone said seemed appropriate.

Morgan had accompanied Hotch to the hospital, who hadn't protested much as long as Jack was by his side, and the rest of the team had returned to the office. They had supposed there would paper work to do but were surprised by Strauss sending them home. They had time off "until this mess was sorted out."

Without a word to each other, what was left of the team had split up to leave. Garcia went to spend time with Kevin, Rossi and Emily went to their respective homes, and JJ fell in step with Spencer and they both headed for the parking garage.

Spencer stowed his cane in the back seat of JJ's car and JJ had driven back to his apartment without a thought of going to her own. However, when they finally came to a stop outside the building, neither made more of a move than to unbuckle their seat belts. Both were unsure of how to proceed.

Spencer, surprisingly, took the first action, reaching over and placing his hand over JJ's, causing her to gasp slightly. They hadn't touch all day- it hadn't seemed right- but now that the barrier was broken, they both needed more.

JJ leaned over in her seat, wrapping Spencer arm around her shoulders before winding her arms around his midsection. Spencer complied with her apparent wishes and brought his other arm around her, pulling her further over. Scooting closer, until she was just about sitting in Spencer's seat, JJ leaned up and kissed him. Spencer seemed only too eager to deepen the show of affection, putting his other arm around her waist and pulling her so close she was almost in his lap.

They stayed that way for a moment until JJ suddenly moved again so that she was sitting fully on his lap in the passenger's seat, back pressed against the dashboard, causing Spencer to squeak in surprise against her lips. However, she didn't release him and his arms came back up around her waist and seemed to be trying to pull her closer, still, as her hands tangled in his hair. For a moment it was as if they were attempting to meld together as one until JJ's foot slipped and jarred Spencer's knee, causing him to break the kiss with a sharp cry of pain. "Sorry!" JJ jumped and fell back over to the driver's seat with her legs still stretched across Spencer's lap.

Spencer took a deep breath and shook his head to refute her apology. "It's okay… I'm okay."

There was a short silence broken only by the sound of a car driving by the building. "So, no statistics on how a… an event like happened today can make you want to be closer to the one you love? Something about life affirmation?" JJ asked in a feeble attempt at teasing.

Spencer shook his head and reached over to grab her hand. "Not this time." He said quietly. "…But that is true."

JJ smiled wanly and gave his hand a squeeze before moving completely into her own seat again. "Come on, let's go inside."

Nodding this time, Spencer extracted his can and bag from the back seat as JJ grabbed her own bag and both made their way steadily up to the apartment building. Once inside, they headed straight back to Spencer's room- really more like their room by now- to drop their bags and change out of their work attire. Spencer didn't even blink when JJ took two of his t-shirts out of the dresser and kept one for herself. Feeling more and more worn with every step, as the stress they had suppressed throughout the day began to weigh down on them, they headed back out to the living room. Perhaps a mindless thing like TV would take them away from their dark thoughts…

They realized there would be no such luck, however, when they came upon Alex and Julie watching television. They had forgotten that it wasn't quite as late as it seemed. "Hey, guys," Alex said before looking up and taking in their dismal expressions. "…Is everything okay?"

The two agents were unsure of how to respond and so were silent. Spencer, especially, seemed perturbed, staring at his siblings for a moment as though he was seeing them for the first time in a long time. Julie turned fully to face them, looking worried for their lack of response. "What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

Spencer finally seemed to realize an answer was required and cleared his throat. "Remember… the day I got shot? I told you that Hotch was also in the hospital?" He watched as his siblings nodded tensely. "The person that… hurt Hotch resurfaced."

There was a brief pause and Alex looked as though he was about to speak but Spencer continued as though he didn't notice. "He… found Haley- Hotch's ex-wife- and his son and he…" Spencer found himself unable to continue in the face of his brother and sister's anxious looks.

"Spencer?" Alex asked. "What happened?"

"He…" Spencer cleared his throat and attempted continue, but his voice refused to cooperate as he stared at Alex and Julie.

"Are they okay, Spencer?" Julie asked tentatively.

Finally, Spencer managed to shake his head and sank on the couch, which he had been standing next to. Both younger Reids looked to JJ for information, but she seemed as tongue-tied as Spencer for the moment. More confused than ever in the face of two dumb-struck agents, one of whom was staring at them as if they were doing something peculiar, Alex and Julie exchanged a look and turned their worried eyes back on Spencer and JJ. "What happened?" Alex asked, a little more forcefully.

"He murdered Haley. And tried to murder Hotch." Spencer replied, suddenly, sounding somewhat detached. "Hotch killed him… in self defence."

"Oh, my god…" Julie mumbled, bringing a hand up to her mouth.

Alex didn't say anything, but the shock was evident on his face. "What about Jack?" Julie asked quietly.

"He's okay. He wasn't hurt." JJ suddenly broke in, coming out of her slight stupor.

Both siblings knew it had to be worse than what the agents were telling them, but they didn't dare press for details. Not now, at least. Not while they were both slightly shell-shocked and JJ was walking up to the couch and demanding the Spencer scoot over. Nudging Julie, who scooted over until she ran into Alex, who moved until he was pressed up against the arm of the couch, Spencer moved until there was just enough room for JJ on the other end. She gratefully pressed herself into the space between Spencer and the sofa arm and snuggled up against the former. "What are we watching?" She asked finally.

"Um… CSI." Julie admitted.

Spencer groaned. "Change it, please… I can't take any more of… _that_." He said gesturing towards the crime scene on the television.

Alex smirked slightly at the way his brother and JJ had been able to come in and take over both the couch and the TV in a matter of minutes but grabbed the remote and changed the channel to the first thing available, which happened to be an infomercial. He moved to flip channels again when Julie stopped him. "Wait, what is that?" She pointed to the item on the screen.

No one had an idea as to what it was, exactly, though it looked like something off an alien ship in a bad sci-fi movie. The device was large, covered in more buttons than anything really needed and crafted from chrome. "A 'Chop Master 3000', apparently." Spencer said as the title flashed across the screen.

"Well, that's a dumb name for a… food processor? Is that what it is?" Julie asked.

JJ shrugged. "It might be a blender." She put forth.

"I dunno… food processor seems like a good guess." Alex said, watching as the host came on the screen smiling enthusiastically.

"_That's right folks, the Chop Master will save you tons of time in the kitchen. Forget all your other appliances, there's not a thing this little beauty can't do for you…"_

"Well, that was terribly ambiguous…" Spencer commented and was hushed by both Julie and JJ.

"We want to hear what else it can do." Julie said, suppressing a smile.

Spencer rolled his eyes but complied with their demands.

20 minutes later, all four of them seemed enraptured with the infomercial. "Well, it can't _possibly_ grind up _all_ those potatoes." Julie exclaimed in feigned disbelief.

"But there's not a thing that little beauty can't do for you." JJ pointed out with a small smile.

They watched as the host tossed potato after potato into the Chop Master. "Including make a pound of processed potatoes." Alex said when the man had finished.

"I stand corrected." Julie said with a shrug.

They all shared a small laugh and fell silent. They had put away the notion that there should be no smiles or laughter that night. There would be time for mourning tomorrow, when things had sunk in more. Somehow, it felt as though if weren't able to do something so normal at that moment, they might never be able to do so again…

-/\-

After watching nearly two hours worth of infomercials, the four occupants of the couch had retired to their respective beds, which was where Spencer and JJ resided now. It had been silent for a time, but JJ could tell there was something Spencer wanted to say, she could always tell lately. "I thought of them today. While we were in Hotch's house. Standing in the middle of all of that… I thought of my brother and sister." He admitted finally, sounding guilty.

"Spence… it was awful. You thought of people you love… people you're close to…"

"People I was scared for… it was illogical, but I was scared for them… and… you."

JJ was quiet for a moment. "I was thinking about my family… and you and Alex and Julie." She told him. "It's natural to think about people you love, Spence."

Spencer tightened his arms around JJ's waist and pulled her closer against him, nuzzling against the back of her neck. "I do love you…" He mumbled into her golden hair.

"I love you, too." JJ said, putting her hands over his.

"Would you ever consider moving in?" Spencer suddenly blurted.

There was silence for a moment, broken by JJ's startled "What?"

"I- I'm sorry, I did not mean for that to come out… I mean, I did, but not now, it's just something I've been thinking about for the past… few months and I just… I don't know why I had to say it _now_ of all times… I'm sorry…" Spencer began to ramble, pulling away from JJ.

"Spence," JJ cut him off mid-apology, sitting up and turning on the light. "It's fine…"

"No, I…" The genius looked away, refusing to meet her eyes even as she scooted up next to him.

"You've been thinking about it for months?" She asked quietly.

"Well…" Spencer shrugged. "It's just… you're here more often you're at your own apartment and Alex has a job and will be moving out as soon as soon as my leg is fully healed, so it won't be too crowded, and my apartment is closer to work than yours… It seemed logical."

"Logical?" JJ quirked an eyebrow. "You want me to move in because it's _logical_?"

"Yes- no, I mean…" Spencer grew more flustered. "It _is_ logical, but I want you to move in because… I just… want you here."

JJ smiled a little. "Well, I do practically live here anyway… and I certainly can't ignore logic… I suppose I'll just have to move in."

Spencer's eyebrows went up. "Wha- really? You- you want to?" He watched as JJ nodded. "Because I don't want you saying yes just because you feel pressured by… the events of today or by the sudden realization that life is fleeting, or…"

"Shush." JJ placed a gentle hand over his mouth, effectively silencing him. "Don't spoil it. I'm saying yes because _I_ want to be here and because I've sort of been hoping you would have asked a while ago."

A muffled and surprised "really?" came out from behind JJ's hand and she smiled again. "Yes, really. And there'll be time to think about the rest of what you said tomorrow. Tonight, we just need… sleep."

JJ released Spencer from her silencing hold and he slunk back down under the covers as she flicked off the light and joined him.

And true to JJ's word, things did sink in the next day. There were tears on JJ's part and a few on Spencer's, there was a tearful call from Garcia, a gruff one from Rossi, a subdued one from Emily and one call to an exhausted Morgan. There was comforting and holding and the wish to call Hotch but knowing there would be no answer.

Just for that day, everyone was selfish, as selfish as they had felt when they had simply gone home and gone to sleep, even if that couldn't have been helped. They all took the day not to think about the future. No one thought about the looming investigation this was sure to spur, JJ didn't think about what she would do about cases and Spencer didn't think about having to inform his siblings about their new 'roommate.'

There was time for the impending future tomorrow, they decided. Today would simply be today.

-/\-

A/N: I'm not too sure about the ending, but I wanted something that would sort of make it so that I didn't ignore Hotch or anyone else's emotional-ness… I hope you guys liked it, though! And this was the last one to do with an episode… and there's only three chapters left! I'm sorta sad and sorta happy…

Thank you so very, very much to clt, Laura Beth loves Jesus, Daisyangel, cmwinner, Eriks angel 15, SlasherrGirl, RockerChild1987, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, 67Chevy, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, SSAFunbar, donttouch, Noel Ardnek, Red K 5 and Hopeful Writer! You guys all rock most awesomely! As are the people who added this to their alerts and favorites! I'm running out of adjectives to describe your awesomeness after 36 chapters…


	38. Moving Day

Family

A/N: Hello, again! We have reached the ridiculous fluff portion of our story… woot! This oughta be fun… I hope it is for you guys, too!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or takeout food… I've got a bunch of cardboard boxes, though… Alexander and Juliet Reid are characters of my own design.

-/\-

Chapter 38: Moving Day

Shortly before Christmas

"Did you just hop in here with a box of clothes?" JJ asked from the doorway of the bedroom.

"No." Spencer scoffed, leaning against the bed. "I carried it… on one leg."

JJ rolled her eyes. "You know, Spence, you can help _unpack_ things. You shouldn't be trying to carry stuff."

"I wasn't _trying_… I was _successful_. See?" He pointed to the box on the floor at the foot of the bed. "It's in here now and it used to be in the hallway. I count that as successful."

"I don't think it really counts if you have to stop to balance yourself and nearly drop the box twice." JJ replied apologetically, coming and sitting down on the bed.

Spencer blushed and glared at JJ. "If you were watching, why did you ask the question in the first place?"

"Figured I'd give you the chance to come clean." JJ gave a shrug and a small grin.

Sighing, Spencer slumped slightly on the bed. "I don't like not being able to help… especially after the fifth crack Morgan made about me just sitting around. Which I wasn't," He added defensively, prompting JJ to nod in understanding. "I _was_ unpacking things."

"I know that, Spence. You shouldn't let him get to you, he's only teasing." JJ said, placing a hand over his.

"I know… but I already felt sort of useless, being as we had to ask some of the team over to help you move… At first, I tried to figure out how to carry a box while still using my cane, by bracing it against my side. Like I saw Emily doing earlier with some of the smaller boxes," Spencer said, demonstrating with his arm. "But since my hips aren't as… er, prominent as Emily's, it didn't go very well…"

"Is that why there's a spilled box of shirts by the door?" JJ asked, looking over to where it looked as though cardboard box had vomited her closet onto the floor.

"Um, yes. Sorry about that… I'll clean it up." Spencer replied, standing up off the bed and moving to where the box lay.

JJ sighed and knelt down to help him fold the clothes and put them back in the box. "Having friends help you move doesn't make you useless." She pointed out.

"But if my leg were functioning properly, we would have you, Alex, Julie and me and that would have been plenty. Now we have six and a half people moving things in and out of here and it seems a little excessive."

"How do you get six and a half?" JJ asked, brows furrowed.

Placing the last shirt in the box and sitting back with a sigh, Spencer gestured to his leg. "I really only count as half a mover, I think. I mean, why else would everyone have felt the need to come over and help?"

Rolling her eyes again, JJ suppressed a small grin. "Spence… you're being a bit of an idiot." She held up a hand to halt his indignant protest. "Moving is kind of a social thing. If you have friends they come over and help you move boxes and heavy furniture and then, at the end, you spring for takeout."

This time, she was unable to keep the smile off her face at the confused look Spencer got. "Morgan, Emily and Garcia didn't come over to help because they thought you were an inept mover, they came because they wanted to… we've all been so stressed lately, I think we sort of needed something… normal to do." She told him.

Spencer nodded slowly, seeming to consider the information. He looked up to say something to JJ, but a voice from the doorway interrupted. "Are you two gonna sit in here slacking off while we do all the work, or are you going to start unpacking?" Garcia asked, grinning down at the two agents on the floor.

JJ smiled. "I don't know who you've been watching all day, but Spence and I have been doing plenty of work. Right, Spence?"

Brows furrowed, Spencer looked towards JJ in confusion until she elbowed him gently in the side. "Oh- right. Yes, plenty of work." He nodded.

"Well, who am I to argue with the word of a genius?" Garcia asked with a smirk. "Now, come, my committed cutie, I've got a box of books with your name all over it. No one else seems to understand your organization system."

Ignoring the way one of his eyebrows rose at 'cutie', Garcia grabbed one of his hands and JJ stood up and grabbed the other. Together, they hoisted Spencer off the floor and handed him his cane. "Alex and Julie have been complaining about the bookshelves for a while now, maybe I should reorganize them into a more basic system…" Spencer mused as he followed the women out into the living room.

-/\-

"I can't believe you still have trouble with chopsticks, man." Morgan teased with a smile.

"Hey, I'm more adept with them now. The food reaches my mouth at least 70 percent of the time." Spencer replied, bringing a slice of bell pepper to his lips with triumph.

"Yeah, but still, what's it been? Five years? Didn't JJ teach you anything?" The large agent asked, poking at his sweet and sour pork with his own pair of chopsticks.

"Wow," JJ interrupted, slightly awed. "Has is really been five years?"

"Since the incident in question? Almost, yes." Spencer nodded. "I've known most of you longer than that, though."

"Yeah, I've known you for, oh, 23 years now, isn't that right?" Alex piped up with a smirk.

Spencer rolled his eyes but smiled. "Of course I've known you longer than anyone on the team; I'm related to you." He said plainly.

"But still, this is nice, isn't it?" Emily asked, putting down her bowl of wonton soup. "Did you ever think you'd spend a Christmas break like this?"

Looking around the room, Spencer couldn't help but think it wasn't exactly a picture-perfect holiday assembly. There were boxes everywhere, around the couch, the coffee table, the desks and the Christmas tree. Some were serving as seats and others as tables. There was also paper strewn everywhere, along with some of JJ's belongings, which were being unpacked. The room, which had probably been designed to hold no more than five or so at time, now contained seven people. However, the scene made him smile just a bit.

From his vantage point on the only part of the couch that wasn't taken up by boxes, he could see the whole room. Morgan sat in the easy chair with his dinner plate on top of box in front of him. Julie sat cross-legged on the floor by the chair, eating off of a part of the coffee table she had cleared. Alex sat on a sturdy box by Spencer's desk and JJ sat in the desk chair, both keeping their plates on the surface. Emily sat at Julie's desk, the young girl having relinquished her seat in favor of sitting on the floor for some reason Spencer had yet to understand. It was crowded, cluttered, messy and smelled like an odd mix of packing tape and Chinese food, but he couldn't feel anything much but contentment in that moment.

Despite everything that had happened to him, his family and his team over the years, here they were. They were still mending from a recent hurt and some of their numbers weren't there with them, but he knew they'd all be alright. They were strong. As for Emily's question, "I can honestly say, this is a bit of a surprise." He replied finally.

Friends, family, a girlfriend-turned-housemate, those were all pleasant surprises. "And just think," Alex said, breaking Spencer out of his reverie. "We get to do this all over again in a couple of months, when I move out."

"And maybe Reid can finally get off his skinny butt and help you." Morgan added with a friendly smile.

"Are you sure you have to go? You'll be leaving me all alone with these two." Julie asked, pointing to Spencer and JJ.

"Hey, I thought you were all for my moving in?" JJ asked with a smirk.

"Well, sure, but it's occurred to me… I'm living in an apartment with my older brother and his girlfriend… it seems a little odd when you think about it."

Spencer watched as everyone lobbed teasing comments back and forth and shook his head. _Sure_, friends and family were _pleasant_… Occasionally…

-/\-

A/N: That's something I've noticed about large groups of family and/or friends. You love them to bits, but they could annoy you to death if they wanted… Anywho, I hope you enjoyed! Next up is New Years Eve! A review would be wonderfully lovely if you feel like giving one!

And on that note, huge, huge thanks to Daisyangel, Laura Beth loves Jesus, Eriks angel 15, Noel Ardnek, Red K 5, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, SlasherrGirl, SSAFunbar, donttouch, 67Chevy, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, cmwinner, clt, DreamerChild88, and RockerChild1987! You guys, along with the people who have added this story to their alerts and favorites, are most awesome! I would sing you a song, but… well, that would be awkward.


	39. New Year's Kiss

Family

A/N: I am so very sorry for the mini-hiatus! I have had a ridiculous list of setbacks, ranging from a bad reaction to medication, my computer _deleting_ the first version of this chapter, school eating my life, and me being made writer's block's *cough*… yeah. So, I apologize!

Um… anyway, several of you have mentioned wanting to see something like what transpires in this chapter… I hope it doesn't disappoint…

Oh, also… 500 flippin' reviews! I don't deserve you guys, you're so awesome! I was shooting for 100 when I started this story… you are all amazing. Thank you!

-/\-

Chapter 39: New Year's Kiss

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve found the small family of Reids and one Jareau sitting around the living room of the apartment they now shared, waiting. Not for the ball to drop, being as it was only shortly after eight, but for their visitor who was due to arrive soon.

This visitor hadn't been the object of such interest at first; Julie had asked if anyone minded a friend of hers coming for the evening and no one objected. However, when Spencer made a point to ask which friend it was, and Julie replied with "Mike," things became more interesting.

JJ had grinned, though Spencer remained oblivious to the implication. "Why are you smiling?" He'd asked, ever-oblivious to the motives of those close to him. "What's funny about her friend?" Then JJ had shook her head and leaned over to say something in Spencer's ear as Julie blushed. Spencer had seemed confused at first, but his eye brows quickly rose to new heights and he turned to stare at Julie, who shrugged self-consciously.

Spencer had still conceded to allowing the male guest over in the end, as neither Alex nor JJ objected, and everyone was now waiting for his arrival. Even Alex, who had been invited to a party by a friend from work, was staying long enough to check out the newcomer. Though the eldest Reid's feelings towards Julie's "friend" had been the most transparent, Alex remained wary as well. He claimed he wasn't sure he liked his "baby sister's" new discovery of boys, to which Julie replied "I discovered them quite a while ago, thank you," which earned another owlish stare from Spencer. JJ found the whole thing quite entertaining, never admitting she had almost _accidentally_ told the boy's name to Garcia.

"So, what, exactly, is this boy's name, again?"

Julie sighed and looked over at Spencer, who had asked the question. "I've told you twice already. You're forgetting on purpose." She accused him.

"I am not." Spencer defended. "I've never been very good with names."

"You have an eidetic memory!" Julie pointed out, tossing her hands in the air.

"Well, I'm not great with names," Spencer said with a frown. "I thought Garcia's name was Gomez at first…"

"Spence, you told me you were faking not knowing so people wouldn't think you were weird." JJ said with a small laugh.

"How is remembering names weird?" Alex asked, grinning as Spencer blushed slightly.

"I already had a reputation for being the person who knew everything…" The genius muttered. "And I hadn't even been there two months."

Alex opened his mouth to question further but Julie interrupted him. "Never mind," She said, waving a hand as if to clear the air. "His name is Mike. _Mike_. Now please tell me you aren't going to start calling him something like 'Mark,' instead…"

Rather than promising, Spencer frowned, but looked slightly thoughtful. "Michael was the most popular boys' name in 1992." He said.

"So?" Julie asked, still sounding defensive.

"So, nothing." Spencer shrugged innocently. "I'm just saying it's a _common_ name."

Alex snorted with a laugh. "You should tell him that."

"Don't tell him that!" Julie pleaded, her voice rising slightly in pitch. "That's rude!"

"It's just a fact." Spencer said. "How can that be rude?"

Julie seemed to be about to reply, looking both exasperated and irritated, but JJ intervened before an argument could start. "Well, whatever kind of name he has, he must be some guy to stand a night with the likes of us." She said, attempting to hide her smile.

"Yep, two older brothers, one of whom an FBI agent with an FBI agent girlfriend." Alex said with a grin. "How'd you get him to come over?"

"Well… I may have left a few things out when I talked about my family…" Julie said with a small, embarrassed smile.

Alex studied her for a moment before his grin grew wider. "You didn't tell him about the FBI part, did you?" He asked laughingly.

"Well, he didn't ask!" Julie said defensively, though she still looked as though she was on the verge of embarrassed laughter.

Laughing louder, Alex shook his head. "Oh, I'm so glad I decided to stick around until he gets here."

No sooner were the words out of the young man's mouth than the buzzer for the outer door rang, causing Julie to jump up and head into the hallway. Everyone else waited, at least pretending to be patient, in the living room. They heard Julie opening the door a minute later and speaking to someone, who spoke back. The sound of the coat closet being opened and shut could be heard and then the sounds of two people walking down the hall towards the living room. "Guys, this is Mike. Mike, this is my family… well, y'know, part of it." Julie announced as she entered the room, making grand waves with her arms.

A boy of average height with dark brown, almost black, unruly hair that just barely came down to his hazel-grey eyes entered the room after her and smiled uncertainly. "Hello," He said, making a quick sweeping motion with his hand that could have been interpreted as a wave.

Julie walked further into the room and motioned for Mike to follow her. "This is Spencer, my brother, and JJ, his girlfriend…" She said, reached the two sitting on the couch first.

Spencer stood up and was glad, not for the first time that day, that his leg wasn't bothering him enough to warrant the use of the cane. At the height of six-foot-one, he had a good five inches on Mike, who, to his credit, barely wavered as he reached out and shook Spencer's hand. JJ smiled and took Mike's hand next, her shake far less business-like than Spencer's. "And _this_," Julie continued, steering Mike in the direction of the chair where Alex was sitting, "Is my other brother, Alex."

"That's me," Alex said with a smirk as he shook Mike's hand. "The _other_ brother."

Julie rolled her eyes, but Mike smiled a little. "It's nice to meet all of you… I've heard about you from Julie."

"That's funny, because we've heard very little about you." Spencer replied, his tone merely one of interest.

"Um…" Mike seemed unsure how to respond and Julie looked sorely tempted to roll her eyes.

Instead, she went to her desk to sit down and gestured to the other desk chair. "You can sit at Spencer's desk, if you want."

Though he looked as though he would rather not, Mike obeyed the suggestion and sat down gingerly in the once vacant chair. Then the awkward silence began, which he valiantly attempted to combat. "So… Julie said you were a… doctor?" Mike asked, directing the question at Spencer.

"Yes, I hold doctorates in mathematics, engineering and chemistry." Spencer said with a nod, still in that odd, interested tone.

"Oh." Alex and JJ both looked tempted to laugh at Mike's quick flash of shock. "Do you… teach at a university… or work in a lab, or something?"

"No, actually, I work for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. JJ and I both do."

There was a beat of silence in which Mike paled slightly and Julie watched him anxiously. "The- uh- FBI?" He asked, as though he hadn't heard.

"Yes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation." Spencer clarified, his tone now bordering on something akin to amusement.

"No, yeah, I know what the FBI is, I'm just… uh, yeah…" Mike paused and breathed out a small laugh. "This is probably, like, the safest apartment in the building, then, huh?"

Julie also laughed a little, though more out of nervousness than actual amusement. "You don't work for the FBI, too, do you?" Mike asked suddenly, turning to Alex.

"Me? No." Alex shook his head and grinned. "I'm an artist."

"Oh…" The relief on the teens face was evident.

Silence settled over the room again and Alex glanced at the clock, then stood up suddenly, causing Mike to jump. "I'm not going to shoot you." Alex laughed, stretching his arms slightly. "The most dangerous thing I use is a sharpened pencil… or maybe a ruler. Those things hurt."

"I did warn you that you were using it inappropriately." Spencer said with a small smirk.

"Yeah, well, if I listened to everything you said, I wouldn't have that cool scar on my leg." Alex said with a shrug. "And this has been fun, but I think, now that I've met Julie's mystery man," The young man paused to grin at his sister's blush. "I will head out to my own New Year's celebration."

Alex headed for the door and everyone turned to watch him leave. "Be careful. The rate of drunk driving on New Year's Eve is…" Spencer began before Alex spoke over him.

"I've got it, you told me twice already. I'll be careful. I promise if I die tonight, you can be first in line to kill me for it."

Spencer looked confused by the promise, but JJ smiled. "Have fun. See you tomorrow." She said with a small wave and gesture for him to go.

"Bye, Alex." Julie said after the young man as he walked into the hallway.

"Good night." Spencer managed to call just before Alex's shout of "Happy New Year!" as he shut the door.

-/\-

By the time 11:00 had rolled around, things were much less tense. Mike's tendency to constantly ask questions when the room fell silent, which Julie insisted was what had intrigued her in the first place, had led to an awkward conversation. Then Spencer had gone off on a technical tangent about the ball that drops at midnight; JJ and Julie might have accused him of doing it on purpose, but there was no faking the spark of earnest excitement in his eyes as he spoke. Mike, for his part, had seemed almost genuinely interested that the ceremony had started in 1906, and things had gone from there.

"I'm going to grab some snacks from the kitchen, does anyone want anything?" JJ asked at a lull in conversation.

Varying nods and requests went around the room and JJ nodded. "Hey, Mike, do you think you could give me hand, please?" She asked, gesturing in the direction of the kitchen.

"Uh- yeah, sure." Mike replied, surprised, and got up to follow the blonde.

Once in the kitchen, JJ instructed Mike on where to find bowls and glasses as she placed a bag of popcorn in the microwave. "So are you having a good time?" She asked when the bag had begun whirring around.

"Yeah." Mike said with a nod, pouring a can of soda into a glass. "My family never really does anything for New Year's, so this is pretty fun."

JJ nodded and smiled at him, but said nothing. She had the feeling he still had something to say. She wasn't disappointed. "To be honest, though…" Mike continued, hesitating for a moment. "I was a little… uh, _worried_ about… Spencer at first. I mean, before he really started talking, I didn't think he liked me."

"No, I'm pretty sure he likes you just fine. It's sort of hard to get Spence to _dislike_ you." JJ said, still smiling.

"Yeah, he seems nice. Julie said you all were… At least I'm pretty sure he's not going to shoot me." Mike replied with a laugh, opening another soda can.

"Spence isn't really that confrontational," JJ agreed, listening carefully to the popcorn for a moment before continuing. "But he won't hesitate for a moment to make your life a living Hell if you hurt Julie."

Mike paused and blinked, surprised. "Uh…"

"Not that I'm trying to scare you, or anything." JJ said, her tone still light and friendly. "You don't seem like the type of boy who would do something awful."

"No, of course not." Mike shook his head emphatically, nearly dropping the last glass he was holding.

"Especially considering Spence and I are both in the FBI and part of a very close-knit team of agents who hunt down serial killers… and are pretty fond of each other's family." JJ continued, trying very hard not to laugh as she turned away and pulled the popcorn out of the oven.

When she turned back, Mike was staring at her as though he wasn't sure if she was joking or not. "Just food for thought." She said with a grin, dumping the popcorn into a large bowl and holding it out to the teen. "Popcorn?"

Unsure of what else to do, the boy reached out and took a piece of corn, popping it into his mouth, and then picked up the glasses of soda he had poured. "Thank you for the help, by the way." JJ said cheerfully.

"Um… not a problem." Mike replied, now unsure which agent he needed to worry about more- JJ or Spencer.

Julie and Spencer looked up at Mike and JJ when they reentered the room and placed the refreshments in an easily reached place then sat back down. "Thank you." Julie said, reaching forward and taking a small handful of popcorn.

At the earliest possibly moment, when Mike was looking at the television, both Spencer and Julie turned expectant looks on JJ, who merely smiled and took a sip of her drink. Julie shook her head and turned to the TV as well, but Spencer smiled a little as well.

Before the four of them knew it, midnight was upon them and they counted down with the shouting people in Time Square with varying degrees of enthusiasm. 2009 passed the same as the year previously and 2010 came to take its place. Spencer wondered if he should take a moment to reflect on the seemingly endless ups and downs of the dead year when something happened that made him jump. Julie leaned over from her desk chair and, after catching Mike's attention with a 'Happy New Year', gave the teen a chaste kiss on the lips.

Mike promptly blushed a little and attempted to look at both Julie and Spencer simultaneously. Spencer still seemed rather shocked and JJ was trying not to laugh. "You should probably get going. I'll walk you out." Julie said, taking Mike by the hand and leading him to the door.

Spencer looked as though he would have like to protest, but he was unable to get the words out before Julie called "I'll be back up in a few minutes," and shut the door behind herself. Finally, he turned to JJ and gestured towards the desk chairs and then the hallway leading to the front door and managed a strangled "What…?"

JJ laughed and shook her head. "It was just a New Year's kiss, Spence."

"But…" He struggled to find words to articulate his feelings. "We're sitting right _here_." He waved his arms again.

"You're going to have to get used to it eventually. She's pretty; the fact that she hasn't brought a boy home before now is a minor miracle." JJ said with another light laugh.

"I… But…" Spencer attempted, looking towards the front door again.

Shaking her head, JJ placed a hand on the side of Spencer's face and brought him around to look at her again. "She'll be fine. I promise." JJ said. "Now, about New Year's kisses…"

Spencer seemed undecided for a moment, but shook his head and leaned forward to place a light kiss on JJ's lips. "Happy New Year, JJ." He said, his tone suggesting he was giving up the argument for the moment.

"Happy New Year, Spence." JJ replied, smiling leaning back in for another kiss.

-/\-

A/N: Okay… that probably wasn't worth the wait (which I am so sorry for, once again) but the next chapter is the last one and there should be something pretty interesting going on… Thank you so, so much those of you who are still hanging in there and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, also, to everyone who has reviewed! Over 500! Noel Ardnek, donttouch, SlasherrGirl, criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, Hopeful Writer, creative-writing-girl13, SSAFunbar, cmwinner, Eriks angel 15, clt, RockerChild1987, 67Chevy, softxdxlllxball, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, Laura Beth loves Jesus, hudson911, Rori Potter, and Red K 5, you guys all are awesome! Everyone who has added this to their alerts and favorites is as well!


	40. The End and The Beginning

Family

A/N: I can't believe this is it! I started writing this crazy project back in March and I'm finally done! I still have plans for a companion story, but for now (and probably for a few months) this is it… Here we go…

Disclaimer: For the last time, I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters. Alexander and Juliet Reid are, as ever, characters of my own design. And I love them more than I expected…

-/\-

Chapter 40: The End and The Beginning

Summer, 2010

JJ entered the apartment and locked the door behind herself, a habit she'd picked up long before moving in with Spencer. She could smell something she was positive was pasta sauce coming from the kitchen and the sound of voices floating out into the hallway. "Hey, guys, I'm back." She called to the occupants of the kitchen.

Spencer stuck his head out of the kitchen and quirked a small smile. "Hi. How'd it go?" He asked.

Sighing, JJ shrugged out of her suit jacket. She had been out to the office to deal with a police officer who was attempting to bypass the chain of command and get the BAU to come down to Mississippi. "He was frustrated, but I got through to him. I am putting serious consideration into his case, though." She paused and shook her head. "It's pretty bad…"

When she looked up, she saw Spencer frowning, looking worried. "But it can wait until tomorrow." JJ said with a smile as she walked forward and grabbed Spencer's hand, leading the way back into the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti." Spencer replied, giving JJ's hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it and turning to the stove.

"Smells good," JJ said, looking towards the table where, to her surprise, both younger Reid siblings sat.

"Hey, Jayje, how're you doing?" Alex asked, looking up from his sketchbook on the table.

"Oh, not bad… And is it just me, or have you not moved out of this apartment at all?" She asked with a smile to let him know she was kidding.

"Of course I've moved out." Alex said, his tone quite serious. "Why would you suggest otherwise?"

"Because you're here almost every day for dinner." Julie cut in, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Untrue," Alex said, poking at the air with his pencil. "I haven't come over any day Spencer and JJ have been out of town."

Julie shook her head and JJ smiled. "Okay, so every day they've been here, then." Julie amended.

"Now that's not fair… I haven't been here more than twice a week since I moved out." Alex crossed his arms over his chest, feigning hurt.

"You came over three times a week in February." Spencer pointed out, leaning against the counter by the stove.

"That was right after I moved out. I forgot stuff and I kept forgetting to go grocery shopping."

Everyone around the kitchen shared a quick smile, sans Alex, and allowed the subject to drop. "So how _is_ life going at your bachelor bad?" JJ asked with a small smile.

"Good… Good." Alex said, nodding slowly. "My neighbors were giving me some trouble, but I told 'em my brother and his FBI friends would come and kick their asses and they calmed down."

Spencer's head snapped in Alex's direction, his eyes going wide. "You told them _what_?"

Alex laughed. "Relax, I didn't really. My neighbors are nice. Then girl from C7 brought me brownies."

"_Really_?" Julie asked, peering over the edge of her book.

"Yeah… and she also has a boyfriend." Alex told her.

"Oh." Julie frowned. "Well, is there _anyone_ who has dating potential?"

Alex shrugged. "We Reid men are late bloomers when it comes to dating." He said with a joking smile. "Isn't that right, Spencer?"

"Hm?" Spencer looked up from the pot of noodles he was stirring. "Uh- yeah, sure."

"So is _that_ the excuse you guys are going with?" JJ asked teasingly.

Alex heaved a theatrical sigh. "Y'know, I miss the days where _I_ was the one teasing people… like Spencer. That was a good system. Whatever happened to that?"

JJ and Julie laughed a little and Spencer frowned at Alex, who shrugged unapologetically. "For that, you'll be lucky if you get to come to dinner again." Spencer murmured as he moved to dump the pot of water and pasta into a strainer.

The middle Reid at least had the decency to feign repentance after that.

-/\-

After dinner, the four occupants of the apartment sat around the living room, occupied with various projects. Spencer sat on one end of the couch rifling through a few folders, his desk having been moved to Alex's vacant room about a month ago after his brother had insisted it was alright to do something with the empty space. Alex sat in the chair, watching television and simply enjoying the opportunity to spend time in the place he had left behind a few months ago. JJ sat on the couch, as near to Spencer as his folders would allow, reading a book and occasionally glancing at the TV. Julie watched the program from her desk chair and kept pulling her phone out of her pocket to send a text message. There was a contented air about the room that the four felt loath to disturb. And, yet… "Hey, Spencer?" Julie asked, looking up from her most recent text.

"Hm? Yes?" Spencer asked, looking up from a report he'd been reading over.

"Is it okay if I go to a movie with Mike tonight?" The teen asked.

"I don't see why you couldn't…" Spencer began.

"Great! Thanks." Julie said, jumping up from her chair and heading to her room.

Spencer blinked in surprise. "Where is she going? He can't be here already…"

JJ smiled. "I think she went to go get ready."

"Oh… right." Spencer nodded, mostly used to the odd comings and goings of his teenage sister in regards to dating by now.

10 minutes later, Julie came back into the room momentarily. "He's here. I'll be back by 10." She said quickly, putting her purse over her shoulder.

"If you intend on going anywhere other than the movie theater, you should call. If anything happens…"

"It's helpful if you know where I was last; I know. That's not really a comforting thought, you know." She said, but smiled anyway. "I'll call, though. Bye, guys!"

With that, the 17 year old was out the door. Another 15 minutes passed uneventfully as the TV show ended. Alex glanced up at the clock and sighed. "I should probably get going. There's a project I need to look over before tomorrow." He said, standing up and stretching.

"Procrastinating again?" Spencer asked with a small smile.

"No… I'm just strategically ignoring it." Alex replied with a grin of his own. "It shouldn't take too long anyway. I'll see you guys."

"So you'll be here for dinner tomorrow, then?" JJ teased.

"Oh, ha ha. Just for that, I'm cooking my own dinner tomorrow. If I come down with food poisoning, I'm blaming you guys." Alex said adamantly as he headed for the hallway.

"That doesn't make sense." Spencer said, his eyebrows coming together in confusion.

"It doesn't have to. Just go with it. Bye!" Alex called as he followed the path his sister had taken out the door 15 minutes previously.

JJ smiled, looking back to her book, and Spencer shook his head as the room fell silent again. He attempted to return to reading his report but found that, for some reason, his eyes kept drifting back up to some of the pictures hung on the wall next to the couch. No matter how many times he told himself to look back down at the papers in the folder, he found himself staring at the photos once more.

He could remember when JJ had helped him pick out the pictures of times she said they should hang up. She had noticed his penchant for glancing at the picture of his family on his nightstand, regardless of his eidetic memory, and had suggested they frame some pictures. There was one of Alex on his high school graduation day, dressed in blue robes, grinning broadly and holding up his diploma triumphantly, and Spencer was reminded that in less than a year there would be a similar picture of Julie to hang.

There was a photo of Julie and Mike dressed to go to their junior prom, Julie smiling shyly and Mike blushing slightly. Spencer could remember offering to take a picture of the two of them, glad to have been home that day, and Julie had finally convinced her bashful date to stand in front of the camera for a few minutes.

Another picture showed Spencer at the age of 12, standing in his slightly-too-large graduation robes, blushing but smiling and half-heartedly holding up his high school diploma. The picture next to it showed him standing next to Alex, who was wearing Spencer's graduation cap, and Spencer holding Julie. Both pictures had been taken by Diana, Spencer's graduation day being one of the few days she had consented to going somewhere outside the house.

One of Spencer and JJ smiling at each other and oblivious to the camera was among the frames. It had been taken at a barbeque hosted by Morgan a year ago, which all the BAU members had attended.

The picture taken on Thanksgiving had been restored to its hanging place on the wall as well, the original copy having been given to William.

Spencer was glancing over the other pictures when JJ's voice broke him out of his trance. "Feeling a bit of empty nest syndrome, Spence?" She teased gently.

He looked over at her, his brows drawn together contemplatively. "Alex and Julie are my siblings, not my children. I don't think that term is really applicable here…"

"I'm kidding, Spence… And it sort of is, you know. They're your brother and sister, but you've taken care of them almost all their lives."

Spencer seemed to consider her words for a moment. "It's just a little odd. I'm… used to them being here. I just have to readjust to them being gone, I think."

JJ smiled and shuffled some of the folders around so she could scoot over and lean up against Spencer. "They're not gone all the time. And look at this way," She said, looking up at him. "It's a testament to how good a job you've done."

"What do you mean?" Spencer asked, meeting her meaningful look with slight confusion.

"They're whole, functional people with their own lives and friends and things going on… and you helped them to become that way." JJ said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"I think you had a hand in it as well… if you hadn't been able to answer some of Julie's questions, I think I may have scarred her with overly scientific and/or informative answers."

JJ laughed a little. "I'm sure you would have been fine. But I'm glad to have been there." She said quietly. "You know, they might be independent now, but you can just look at this as a new stage in life."

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes and JJ noticed Spencer had stilled completely. "Spence? You alright?" She asked, lifting her head to look at him.

The look on his face gave away that he had been thinking hard about something. Before she could ask what, he began to disentangle himself from her and stood before the couch. "I- I've been attempting to plan the perfect way to do this for nearly two months and… I honestly don't know if I'd ever do it quite right…"

JJ quirked an eyebrow at him. "Spence…"

"But," He continued as though she hadn't spoken. "I do believe it's traditional to kneel."

Spencer got down on one knee in front of the couch, albeit a little awkwardly as the table was in the way, and JJ's hand came up to cover her mouth in surprise. "Of course, nothing else about… us or our lives is really traditional, but I thought I should at least try this traditional method." Spencer paused, seeming to collect his thoughts. "JJ, you are one of the most amazing… wonderful people I've ever met. I don't know exactly where I would be right now without you, but I am almost positive it wouldn't be nearly good as where I… where _we_ are now."

JJ watched him as he spoke, her hand still over her mouth, covering her growing smile. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered how she hadn't seen this coming. "I have been thinking about this for a long time… I wasn't sure at first, but I realize, now, it's probably one of the best things I could ever do." Spencer dug into his pocket and pulled out a ring box- _probably been carrying it around for months_, JJ thought. "I would like to ask you to stay in my life for the longest possible quantifiable measure of time and… marry me?"

He opened the box, producing an engagement ring. The band was a little thicker than was the norm and was composed of swirls of silver. The top of the band was fitted with a traditional, princess cut diamond. "Yes." JJ heard herself saying before she even realized she'd opened her mouth.

"Yes?" Spencer repeated, as though he hadn't been expecting her acceptance.

"Yes!" JJ repeated, laughing and standing up off the couch, pulling Spencer off the floor as she did so. "Yes, yes, yes."

She punctuated each agreement with a kiss, smiling the whole time. Spencer found himself smiling as well as he fumbled with the ring for a moment before pushing it gently onto JJ's finger. They both took a moment to admire the sheer enormity of the simple act before Spencer put his arms around JJ's waist and pulled her close, pressing a passionate kiss to her lips. JJ returned the kiss whole-heartedly, filling it with their mutual passion, promises and pure… happiness.

That was the exact feeling they both had. They were happy. They had each other, they had JJ's family, they had the team, they had Alex and Julie and that was more than either had ever hoped for. It wasn't perfect, nor was it a "happy family" in the traditional sense, but it _was_ a family and they were happy and, to everyone involved, that was all that really mattered.

-/\-

_When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses._

_~Joyce Brothers_

-/\-

A/N: …That's it. I can't believe it. 40 chapters… eight months… and it's done! I suppose the ending may have been a bit predictable (a few of you guessed at it), but it seemed right. Hope it wasn't too sappy for you all!

I enjoyed writing this so, so much… a lot more than I thought I would. I'm glad I'm done with this huge project, but I'll miss it… which is why there's going to be another story (more like a series of oneshots) involving this universe which will almost positively be called "Bonding Moments." I just don't know how to let things go, do I?

Anyway, I really, really hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter and the whole story… everyone who has read and reviewed and put this on their favorites and alerts has made this story worth writing, so thank you!

Criminalxxxmindsxxxfeak, Lunalike, brenners, FishieGurl, CRIMINAL-MINDZ-FANZ, KASEY64, morgo7kc, LadyRogueTiger, donttouch, clt, Shadow Mistress-of death, xXxOtAkU-444xXx, AgnesSophia, Eriks angel 15, Tahreh the Blind Ninja, Laura Beth loves Jesus, SlasherrGirl, fallfromreality, rinswan, RockerChild1987, cmwinner, SSAFunbar, 92, Rasgara, Daisyangel, juniper294, Red K 5, DreamerChild88, twilightgirl00000001, xXxFailingDreamsxXx, Nymphadora-CullenBAU, softxdxlllxball, the overcomer, hudson911, Bindie, bellesandwhistles, Noel Ardnek, Hopeful Writer, thatsrebeccatoyou, Skyler1510, jesusfreak100percent, The little Cullen, angeleyes 46, creative-writing-girl13, , lallymoon, mcskywalker, 1xadzy3dgftw1xLSNx3dglxMGG, 67Chevy, NegativeFan666, Jaye Black, and Rori Potter, you guys all are freakin' amazing! Thank you so much for your encouragement and patience with this story!

See you guys around!


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